Lives to Live
by ObsidianJade
Summary: Last Chapter up; Epilogue due shortly. The monsters are ready to return, but Yami's doubts and Seto's denial can't be a good sign. Yaoi! Monster, Puzzle, and Puppyshipping. Enjoy!
1. Bringing

S: (does her Mushu [from Mulan] impression) I LIIIVE!!!

Onyx: (eyeroll) Speak for yourself, Hikari.

S: Yami humor – hahahaha! Get it, she's a spirit… never mind. Okay, now yeah, I know, not what most of you were looking for, honestly, I WILL get back to HNLL, I actually have the next chapter all written, I just have to proof and type it. And I will do it! Promise!

Onyx: (yawns)

S: And just to prove I haven't killed you, Hawkgirl, would you mind terribly?

Hawkgirl: Gladly… Onyx and Sarah do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. Nor, thankfully, do they own Justice League, or Gollum from Lord of the Rings. All characters are copyright to their creators and all rights are reserved. The names for the monsters that are used in this story are theirs and please request their permission before using them. Also please request their permission before archiving this story anywhere.

Yami Bakura: (leaps out of nowhere) And if any of you pathetic, weak mortals try to flame them for this being yaoi, I will set my Man-Eater Bug on you! (laughs manically)

S: Ooh, I almost forgot! **SLASH AHEAD!!! YAOI! GUYS AND GUYS!! GUYS LOVING GUYS!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!! **

**_LIVES TO LIVE_**

Chapter One: Bringing

It had been two days since Seto Kaiba had come to Yuugi with a request to borrow his deck.

"It's to test my latest holoprojection system," the chestnut-haired teen had explained, a surprising eagerness showing in his narrow blue eyes. "I've already run all of my own cards through it, but I'd like to make sure it reacts to the remaining card types in the same fashion. I assure you, no harm will come to your cards." Since the two master Duelists were on friendly terms, Yuugi saw no reason to deny the young CEO his request. Therefore, his deck had left with Seto and he had heard nothing since. Until the phone rang that afternoon. Yuugi, trying to take inventory in the back room, tried to turn towards the door and tripped over a carton of booster packs as a result.

_ /Yami, could you - ouch – get that, please?/_

_ Aibou? Are you hurt?_

_ /This storage room is a little – OW! – cluttered./_ Rubbing his forehead, the small teen sent a mental image of a box of plushie Duel Monsters toppling onto his head to his dark in explanation.

Shaking his head slightly, Yami retrieved the phone and tucked it between his head and shoulder before retrieving his manga from the counter and opening it again. "Turtle Game shop, how may I help you?"

"Yami, get down here."

"Seto? Is something wrong?"

"Just get down here! And bring Yuugi." The line clicked and went dead before Yami could press the matter further. Flopping the manga back to one hand, he pulled the phone away from his ear with the other and stared at it, utterly perplexed.

_ /Yami? Who was that?/_

_ It was Seto, and he wishes us both at his home immediately. I get the impression there is trouble._

_ /So much for a quiet morning./_

Twenty minutes later, a black-and-crimson Kawasaki Ninja skidded to a halt outside the Kaiba mansion. Two riders swung off it, peeling helmets away from remarkably unharmed hairstyles, and dashed for the house. Mokuba met them at the door, his large grey eyes wider than usual and his messy hair in an astounding state of disarray.

"Hi, guys." The greeting was remarkably calm, considering his appearance, as well as the sounds coming from the interior of the house. "Come in, please." Leaving the door open, he dashed back inside, vanishing into one of the rooms off the hall. Becoming more confused by the minute, Yami and Yuugi slipped in, shutting the door behind them. Mokuba, it seemed, had disappeared entirely, but the pair could still hear what seemed like a low conversation going on, as well as what they now recognized as furious shouting.

"..miserable beast, I aught to send you right back to where you came from - "

"Is that Seto?"

"I do not know, Aibou… It sounds like him. I wonder if he's gotten a dog?"

"Dog," cackled a voice quite close to them, making both jump and turn, facing the gangling figure in the doorway slightly behind Yami's left shoulder. "No doggies here, none at all! Woof woof!" And the figure bounded away with a harsh, grating giggle that left the two teen duelists staring after it in utter disbelief.

"Yami, wasn't that…"

"Saggi the Clown? It did look like him, certainly."

"It sounded like Gollum."

From the back of the house, another tirade of curses, insults and threats to the life of the yet-unnamed 'beast' exploded, coupled with a very loud splash. Exchanging glances, the two spike-haired teens began walking – quickly – to the back of the house. The room that they eventually entered was somewhere between a living room and a greenhouse. The entire rear wall was glass, with sliding doors set at regular intervals. Comfortable wicker chairs and glass-topped wicker tables were settled around the room on top of the grass-green carpeting. The ceiling was painted blue and dotted with fluffy white clouds. Plants, suspended in hanging baskets or overflowing planters on the floor and various shelves and pedestals, were everywhere, with no particular sense of order, making the room a riot of color.

However, it was none of that that drew their attention. Because leaning against one of the glass-topped tables was a tall, pale-skinned man with waist-length indigo hair, chatting with a casually reclining blond who was lounging in the chair next to him. Two helmets, one conical and dark-purple, the other fitted to the head, made of leather and steel, were resting on the tabletop. A tall teal staff with a gleaming emerald in the top was leaning against the unoccupied chair. A sword, heavy and gleaming in the filtered sunlight, was resting against the chair under the elbow of the blond man.

It was the dark-haired man that looked up first. Ice-blue eyes locked with Yami's bloodred ones, and the former Pharaoh gave an astonished gasp. "Dark Magician!"

"Master Yami!" Springing to his feet, the tall Spellcaster bowed deeply from the waist. The blond man rolled instantly out of his chair, swinging his booted feet onto the floor before standing up and bowing also, although not before Yuugi caught a glimpse of the triangular black tattoos and catlike amber eyes.

"Celtic Guardian!"

"Master Yuugi, Master Yami." The Elf's voice, deep and smooth, fell like silk on their ears, ringing with tones of the Earth itself.

"We must apologize for this, Masters. It was not our intention to leave the cards without your permission, we assure you. In fact, it was not our intention to leave them at all…" Looking confused, the alabaster-skinned magician trailed off. His own voice, not so deep as the Elf's, still reverberated with power and strength, and was no less pleasant on the ears.

"I do not blame you, my friend, nor am I angry.." Yami paused as another explosion of profanity burst from the outside. Looking through the glass doors, he found, much to his surprise, that an Olympic-sized swimming pool occupied a large portion of the backyard, and even more to his surprise that Seto was busy chasing a swift purple horse around the pool, cursing it out at the top of his lungs. The horse, with its golden mane and tail swirling in the wind, dashed easily away from the enraged millionaire, tossing it's magnificent head.

"Isn't that Gaia's horse?" Yuugi queried, glancing back at the two monsters.

"Hai, Master Yuugi, it is. That is Zephyr." The Dark Magician's mouth quirked up at one corner as Seto lunged for the playful animal and wound up in the pool again as a result.

"Zephyr? You mean you have names?" Bewildered, Yuugi stared from one monster to the other, before realizing belatedly that he might have offended them. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean - "

He was cut off by both the monsters laughing. "Do not fear, Master Yuugi," chuckled the Dark Magician. "You can do nothing to offend us. But yes, we do have names. The words upon our cards are only titles. My name is Damus." The mage bowed once again, then straightened and flicked a strand of indigo hair back over his shoulder.

Smiling, the Celtic Guardian stepped forward, bowing as well. "And my name is Celtos. The horse, as you know, is Zephyr."

At that point, Mokuba poked his head into the flower room, dragging along what looked like a bundled up brown shag carpet. "Do you think maybe someone could help Seto? Before he tries to kill the horse?"

"Certainly," answered Damus, pulling open the sliding door. "Celt, you had better come as well. You're the only other one that can handle that horse."

Mokuba stopped short three steps into the room and dropped his shaggy bundle, which squeaked indignantly. "All this time, you've been able to handle the horse, and you didn't tell us?"

"Nobody asked," came the casual response. Mokuba shook his head in disbelief, grabbed the squeaking carpet again, and dashed out of the room as a loud crash echoed from the general vicinity of the kitchen. Unthreading his belt, the elf calmly walked out onto the patio, clicking his tongue softly. Immediately, the horse trotted to his side and began nuzzling his shoulder, allowing the elf to slip the wide leather belt around its neck. Meanwhile, Damus and Yami calmly clasped Seto's wrists and, between the two, the trenchcoat-clad teen was easily hauled out of the pool. Sitting dripping on the cobblestone side of the pool, the CEO fixed his icy glare on the elf.

"This entire time," he hissed through gritted teeth, "you've been able to click your tongue and have that damn horse come running over to you?"

"Yes." Calmly patting the animal's neck, the warrior grasped the belt and led the horse outside the pool patio before releasing it into the outer backyard before returning to Damus' side.

"Would anyone care to explain precisely what is going on here?" Yami, his patience beginning to wane, snapped the question out through clenched teeth.

"I can," answered Seto in equally short tones, and marched back into the house, hurling his trenchcoat off as he did. Celtos dodged to the side to avoid being struck by the sodden garment and quickly followed the others into the mansion.

"My latest attempt at creating a thoroughly realistic HDMS - Holographic Duel Monster System – was to include aspects of the monster's personalities in the projected characters." Moving ahead of them at a quick pace, the young CEO began undoing the buttons on his ice-blue shirt as he continued speaking. "When I programmed my own deck into it, I was fairly careful with the amount of personality I injected, mostly because of the comparative sentience and strength of my monsters - "

"In other words, the strong and stupid types," interjected Celtos from behind Damus' shoulder. At Yuugi's astounded look and Yami's badly muffled snicker, he shot a faint grin at them. "I've dueled them, remember?"

"Haven't we all," added Damus cheerfully.

"Back to the point!" Stripping his shirt off completely, Seto hurled the still-wet garment behind him, this time forcing Yuugi to dodge. Yami raised an eyebrow and stared appraisingly at the long, pale back in front of him before clearing his throat slightly.

"…however, when I worked with your deck, Yuugi, I allowed a far greater degree of independent thought and personality into the projections. My calculations seem to have been a little off, though, as they," here he jerked one hand over his shoulder, pointing at Damus and Celtos with his thumb, "are not projections!"

"I have noticed that much," Yami countered, trying his best to hide his smirk. Seto, pausing at the foot of the main staircase, spun around to glare furiously at the diminutive former Pharaoh. Yami, not in the least put off, glared right back at him.

"Uhm, Seto…?" Yuugi's timid voice broke the concentration of the two glaring boys, and four sets of eyes swiveled towards the tiny Duelist.

"What?!"

"What do you.. uhm, plan on doing about this?"

"Fixing it, what else?"

Yami opened his mouth to make a reply, but was quickly cut off from a piercing shriek that emanated from the top of the stairs, followed by a long series of yelps and squeals, as whatever had shrieked in the first place began toppling down the three stories worth of stairs. After a moment, a blur of pink, blue and gold came into view, still bouncing painfully down each individual stair, until it finally skidded onto the floor and rolled to a stop against Damus' armored legs. A familiar conical helmet in shades of pink and blue soon landed on the floor next to the now-stilled blur.

Damus, with a rather weary sigh, reached down and dragged the whimpering 'blur' to it's feet. "Masters, Kaiba, may I introduce my sister, Mirai."

Sheepishly, the blushing Dark Magician Girl stared back at them, her enormous blue eyes blinking rapidly and her cheeks pinker than usual from her extended fall. "Sorry about that!" Her voice was light and innocent, without the same degree of power and danger that Damus' had, although still the voice of a magician.

"My less-than-entirely-graceful sister Mirai."

"Less than graceful entirely would be more to the point," offered Celtos teasingly, picking up the fallen helmet and plopping it back on the girl's head. She gave a cheerful giggle and hugged him around the neck, nearly knocking the helmet off again. "Thanks Celtie!"

"Celtie?" Seto's echo was incredulous.

"Oh, don't start, Dragon Master!"

"Ooh, I forgot my staff!" Flinging her hand toward the staircase, the girl shot a few sparks from her fingertips and instantly, a pink-and-gold staff came flying down the staircase toward her. Damus, reacting quickly, threw out his own hand, halting the staff a half-inch from his sister's nose.

"One of these days, little sister, you are going to cause yourself some manner of exceptional injury." Plucking the staff out of midair, he handed it back to her and poked her in the nose, causing the girl to blink sharply.

"I know, big brother, that's why I try to have you teach me!"

"My lessons would be far more effective if you listened to me, sister…"

"Kuri kuri kuri!!"

"Kuriboh, get back here!"

Conversation was somewhat interrupted as a Kuriboh sailed past, squealing at the top of its lungs, and Mokuba dashed after it. The flying furball glided up the staircase and out of sight, with Mokuba directly on its nonexistent tail.

"You brought my Kuriboh to life?!"

"Damn it, Yuugi, it wasn't intentional!"


	2. Dilemma

S:  Hey everyone, Chapter Two!  Wow, I'm on a roll… kind of scary when two chapters in two months is my idea of a roll…. Although considering it took me a year to get HNLL Ch. 3 up, I suppose it qualifies…

Onyx:  Are you quite finished?!

S: I suppose so.  Anyone want to do the disclaimer?

(Kuriboh glides past carrying a sign that reads 'Disclaimer See Chapter One," being chased by Mokuba)

S: Okaaaaaay……  answers that….

(Yami Bakura randomly leaps out of nowhere again)  And if any of you pathetic, weak mortals –

S: Uhh…  Bakura?

B: (menacingly)  What?!

S: You said that last time.

B:  MY THREAT STILL STANDS!!  (laughs manically until Onyx shoves him into a porthole to the Shadow Realm)

Onyx:  Well, that's that.  (casually dusts off her hands and walks away, ignoring her light's disbelieving stare) 

S:  Oh, he's gonna be pissed at her!!!        Well, the sooner I roll the story the sooner I can leave and escape the wrath of the insane semi-albino Yami.  (rolls story)  Have fun peoples!

===== =============================

**_LIVES TO LIVE_**

Chapter Two:  Dilemma

            Yami just shook his head at the blue-eyed duelist.  "May I suggest that we move to a somewhat less hazardous location before we continue this conversation?"

            "Fine, fine, follow me.  And you," here Seto turned to the Celtic Guardian, "get your sword.  I don't want unattended weapons lying around the house."  Turning on his heel, the CEO marched up the stairs without another word.  Mirai, looking alarmed, scrambled after him immediately, while Yami and Yuugi followed at a more leisurely pace, trusting the two older monsters to follow. 

            Arching one eyebrow, Damus waved one hand causally towards the back of the house, silently summoning both sword and staff from their positions in the back room, although he left the helmets on the table.  He waited politely until the Celtic Guardian had sheathed his sword before the pair set off up the staircase after the three duelists and the young mage.

            "It is so strange, Celt… being here in this world, and seeing the Master as an ordinary man."

            "I know.  Being here again does feel strange… but… right somehow.  Like we're supposed to be here."

            "I understand exactly what you mean."  Stopping short on the stairs, the mage gazed blankly into thin air, apparently lost in thought.  After a moment, he blinked, shook his head, and continued on.

            "Anything?"  Celtos queried. 

            "The only dark signatures I can pick up are my own, Mirai's, Saggi's, and Kuri.  I think there are more of us still coming through, though.  There are a few other signatures very close to this realm that were not here a half an hour ago."

            "I'll keep my ears open."  Pressing a brief, feather light kiss to the Mage's cheek, the elf turned and bounded back down the stairs.  "I'll look around.  Give my apologies to the Masters."  A faint, crisp nod was his only answer, and the two quickly headed in their separate directions. 

            Damus slipped quietly through the open door of the library and moved to stand behind the sofa where his two masters were seated.  Seto, kneeling on the floor on the other side of the coffee table, was working feverishly on his laptop, and did not even glance up to acknowledge the monster's presence.  Yami and Yuugi, however, turned to look at him, and Yuugi's questioning glance prompted Damus to explain that his friend had gone to look for more monsters.  Mirai, who had plucked a book off one of the many laden shelves, was sitting upside-down in a leather armchair, her feet sticking into the air and her blonde hair pooling on the floor beneath her as she focused on her book, humming softly.  Damus angled his head to read the title of the heavy, leather bound volume: Aesop's Fables. 

            Before he could question her choice in reading material, the door flew open again and Mokuba burst in, trailed by a squealing Kuriboh, the former of which was waving a heavy envelope and shouting Seto's name. 

            "Seto!  Seto!  Look what came in the mail!"

            "Mokuba, what – "  But the ivory-colored envelope was already being shoved into his long hand. 

            "Look at it, big brother!  It's an invitation to a Duel Monsters Tournament!"

            Frowning slightly, Seto slid one finger under the flap of the envelope and easily tore it open, spilling the invitation into his hand.  Printed on heavy card stock was an image of the Dark Magician facing off against the Blue Eyes White Dragon. 

            "For the masters of dueling of Domino city," he read carefully.  "An invitation is extended to you to attend a prestigious Duel Monsters tournament…"  Brilliant blue eyes widened with shock as he finished, "one week from today!"

            Yami cursed in Egyptian, Yuugi looked up in amazement, Damus turned to stare, and Mirai fell from her chair and landed on the floor with a yelp.   "One week?"  Yuugi echoed, aghast.  "But – without Damus and Mirai – my deck – my strategy –"  A dark look from Damus made guilt flash across his young face, for Celtos' name had not entered his mind at all.  Yami shot his lighter half a warning glance before turning back to Seto. 

            "Is it possible, Seto, that you can repair this… mishap within the week?"

            "I can – " Seto was cut off as Kuriboh, in a desperate bid to escape Mokuba's grasp, collided painfully with the back of his head.  "If I am allowed to focus on my work without floating kiwi fruits crashing into me!!!"

            The Kuriboh fled from his shouting with a frightened squeal, leaving Mokuba to call an apology as he dashed out the door after it.

            "Seto, we have no way to get them out of here," Yuugi pointed out.  "We can't exactly have full-fledged Duel Monsters marching up and down Main Street, even in Domino City…"

            "What about a car?"

            "I am not riding in one of those metal contraptions, Master, unless I am ordered and threatened with death!" 

            "If you insist, Damus, I will not pressure you."

            "Big brother, can't they stay here until you get it fixed?"  Mokuba's shout was quite clear even through the wall.  Apparently the younger Kaiba had been eavesdropping from behind the door.

            "I am NOT," growled Seto through clenched teeth, "babysitting a flying hairball and an incompetent cheerleader of a magician – "

            Damus was on his feet before the last syllable could leave Seto's mouth, the sharp points of his staff leveled at the CEO's pale throat.  Yami was instantly at his monster's side, tugging futilely at the purple-clad arm.  The look in Damus' eyes was murderous.  "If you speak one more ill word of my sister – "

            "Dark Magician, stand down!"  Only the fierce bark of Yami's voice halted him from completing his threat, although a few sparks of purple-black magic flashed from the end of his staff as he stepped away.

            Seto's eyes were wider now than anyone present had ever seen them; he looked afraid for his life, even though the dark mage had moved away. 

            "Seto," offered Yuugi gently, "remember what Yami and I keep telling you about the Heart of the Cards?  How you can't abuse your cards, and have to respect them?  This is kind of what we're talking about." 

            "I…. see," came the slow answer, as the young man slowly relaxed again, although sparing his uneasy gaze for the still-fuming mage.  "If I can be allowed to work on a way to repair this, can you two figure out a way to get your monsters out of here?"

            Yami grimaced slightly and nodded his head.  "We'll work on it."

=== == === == === == === == Later === == === == === == === ==

            "Of course!"  Yuugi exclaimed half an hour later, nearly dropping the glass of soda he had been holding.  Damus and Celtos looked up instantly, both blinking expectantly.  Yami was somewhat slower in reacting, largely because his head was still bent over the design specifications of the holo-projector that Mokuba was attempting to explain.  Celtos, kneeling at the short side of the glass-topped coffee table, frowned slightly at his younger master, who was now laughing so hard he was nearly falling off his chair. 

            "Aibou?"  Looking confused, Yami raised his head after a moment, a frown creasing his brow.  "What do you find so amusing?"

            Damus, who was lounging at the other end of the table, met Celt's eyes across the expanse of glass.  When the amber-eyed elf shrugged, they too turned his gaze to the still-laughing duelist.  A short distance away, kneeling under the fronds of an immense potted palm tree, the Mystical Elf, by the true name of Amystria, was chanting softly under her breath, apparently deep in her usual meditation.  Mirai, looking confused, was examining the television in the corner cabinet, set to a heavy-metal music video but set to MUTE.  The rouge Kuriboh, finally captured by Celtos, was sitting on top of said cabinet, blinking owlishly down at the blond she-mage and cooing softly.  Leaning against the doorframe of the room, still clad in his glittering cobalt and gold armor, was the Black Luster Soldier, his deep autumn hair gleaming in the light, the point of his lethal blade resting against the ground as he rested one hand on the hilt.  Behind his helmet, his dark eyes were quiet, but there was no doubt he was listening to every word and chuckle coming from the center of the room. 

            Now sitting on the floor, still struggling with his chuckles, Yuugi finally managed to gasp out, "It's  - so  - simple!" 

            "You will perhaps enlighten us, my Master, as to what is simple?"  Damus posed the question with one elegantly arched eyebrow. 

            "How to get you out of here!  It's so simple!"  Regaining himself, the young duelist sat up and snatched the specs sheet off the table and away from his dark half. 

            "Oh!"  Sitting up sharply, Celtos narrowly avoided cracking his kneecaps into the table.  "Of course!  You are right, Master Yuugi, it is simple."

            "Aye, confusing us does seem to be simple," offered Damus, scowling. 

            "I'm sorry, Damus, Yami… the holo-projectors!  Don't you see?"

            Comprehension dawned on both faces in a moment, eyes widening and brightening.  There was a moment's pause before Mokuba laughed a little. 

            "We should have figured that out sooner."

            Conversation ended at that point as Mirai inadvertently turned off the mute, leaving the volume at maximum.

TO BE CONTINUED…. 

                                                Five reviews if you wish me to continue!!!


	3. Learning

S: Wow, I actually got the five reviews – and here I thought I was pathetic, asking for that many…

Onyx: (smirks behind her hand but makes no comment)

S: Onyx, I saw that!

Onyx: (begins laughing uproariously, leaving her very irritated Hikari glaring at her)

(Kuriboh randomly goes sailing past with the 'Disclaimer See Chapter One' sign)

S: Kuri! You're early!

(Bakura races by, trying to blast the Kuriboh with Shadow majicks)

Bakura: (in passing) And if any of you pathetic weak – (Kuriboh explodes near his face, leaving him blinking and covered in soot while the small monster reforms itself, giggling squeakily)

S: (repeated eye rolls) Rolling story!!!!

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**_LIVES TO LIVE_**

****

Chapter Three: Learning

All in all, it was nearly two more hours until everyone had been appraised of the situation and the plan, and somewhat longer than that to get everyone prepared and ready to leave. Crowded into the small room where the planning had initially been taking place were Seto, Yami, Yuugi, Mokuba, Damus, Mirai, Lustire – the Black Luster Soldier – Amystria, and Kuri, as well as Seto's chauffer and a cardboard box large enough to contain a washing machine. Despite the size of the room, which was not inconsiderable, it was fairly crowded.

The monsters seemed to be enjoying themselves greatly. Mirai, who had mastered the remote control with astonishing speed, had found some Loony Tunes playing, and was now lounging, again upside down, on the couch to watch them. Mokuba was sprawled out on the floor next to the couch, and it was debatable who seemed to be enjoying it more. However, another loud crash from outside the room sent Mokuba leaping to his feet and out of the room at a run. Mirai, who seemed to be quite mesmorized by the cartoons, hardly blinked.

Yuugi was attempting to keep a close eye on all of the monsters, although he found his eyes constantly drawn back to the Dark Magician sitting on the nearby couch, next to Yami. The mage was occupying himself with braiding and unbraiding his waist-length fall of indigo hair, staring blankly around as he did so. However, Damus' own eyes seemed drawn back to one particular corner of the room, just as Yuugi's were drawn to him, although for very different reasons.

As Yuugi watched, a faint smile flickered across Damus' face, a spark of mirth appearing in his cerulean eyes.

"I know that look, my friend," the warning murmur of the Pharaoh came to the Mage's ears from beside him. Damus turned an attempt at an innocent look upon him, failing terribly.

"Truly, Master? Have you recovered your memories, then?"

"My memories, no. However, that expression would strike recollection in me no matter what my state… What are you planning, Damus?"

"Little that would concern your Highness?"

A roll of Yami's blood-colored eyes was his only response to that, and the mage turned away, grinning, as he settled on braiding his long hair once again. Even as his fingers worked through the long, indigo tresses, his eyes roved to the broad back of the golden-haired Elf warrior in the corner across from him. Celtos, currently tightening his sword belt, gave no indication that he felt the magician's gaze, but considering how acute his senses were, it was doubtful that he missed it.

As Yuugi was attempting to watch Damus watching Celtos, he found his field of vision abruptly interrupted by a lean form clad in black and white.

"Yuugi."

"Hey, Seto. Is that the new HDMS you were testing?" Eyeing the streamlined device in Seto's hand, Yuugi couldn't help but smile. Although he didn't approach Joey's rabid passion for high-tech dueling systems, he still enjoyed seeing and using the phenomenal systems Seto inevitably invented. As Yuugi examined the System he held, the ice-eyed boy moved on to Yami, pressing one of the Systems into the Pharaoh's hands as well.

"Seto, how good are these things? I mean, really?" Yuugi asked, examining the HDM System he was now strapping to his arm. Although similar to the ones designed for Battle City, it was smaller, sleeker. The edges of the System were rounded, not as angular as those on the previous design, and the holo-emitters were built into the device, instead of being ejected at the start of the duel. Between that and the personality contained in the projections, it was without a doubt the finest portable holographic dueling system to date.

"They're excellent, with the minor exception of the monsters coming to life." Sounding highly irritated, the young CEO jerked his own System onto his arm and tightened the adjustable black Velcro straps that held it in place. "My best yet."

"Hey, big brother!" Mokuba, bounding into the main hallway from the room on the left that he had disappeared into upon Yuugi and Yami's initial arrival, skidded to a stop beside Seto.

"What is it, Mokuba?"

"Isn't anyone gonna take Saggi with them?"

A half an hour later, the strangest collection of beings ever seen by Domino City departed from the Kaiba mansion and proceeded through the center of town, destined for the Game Shop. At the head of this bizarre procession walked the Dark Magician, his staff held high and shooting brilliant purple, black and blue fireworks into the air. Behind him, the Dark Magician Girl, floating a short distance above the ground by standing on her staff, giggled and waved cheerfully to the crowd gathering on either side of the street to watch.

A short distance behind the two mages, a Celtic Guardian performed an astonishing array of acrobatic sword attacks even as he moved along with the others. A Kuriboh, for all intents and purposes serving as a target for the Elf warrior's 'Silver Blade Strikes,' was flying freely in circles around the amber eyed Guardian. It was fairly clear to anyone watching that the Guardian was deliberately missing the monster that Seto now called a 'flying kiwi fruit.' At a fair distance behind him, far enough away to give the swordsman room, walked the Mystical Elf, her long hair and robes flowing about her in the soft breeze. Her silvery voice, although soft, carried enough that the spectators could hear her singing softly in her own tongue.

Walking at the end of the procession, his sword gleaming in his hand, was the magnificent Black Luster Soldier, his armor flashing fit to blind those on the sidewalks. And behind him, sitting on the back of an antique convertible and waving to show the new HDMS disks on their arms, were Yami and Yuugi. And sitting between them, on the edge of the trunk with his feet resting on the seat, was Seto Kaiba, calling to the people on the streets.

"Behold, Duelists of Domino City and beyond! The newest and finest Holographic Duel Monster System, the Duel Disk Gamma Version! Thoroughly realistic, interactive projections, integrated holo-emitters, sound systems, and Life-Point displays! Required spaces for five monster cards, five magic/trap cards, Deck holder, and card Graveyard! These have all the benefits of the previous Duel Disk systems in a smaller, neater package!"

Yami and Yuugi exchanged glances and barely prevented laughing. For even while Kaiba was trying to be serious and continue being an infomercial for his newest product, they were only too aware of Saggi the Clown, who had refused to be left out of the trip and was lying like a nineteen-twenties lounge singer on a piano on the trunk of the convertible and blowing kisses at the crowd.

S: Ok, just a note, Black Luster Soldier's name has a kind of Spanish pronunciation, Loose-tear-a, with a long 'a'. I'm not sure how I came up with that one. Well, hope you enjoyed that. For all you CGDM fans, the next chapter's got plenty more of 'em! Be nice and review, please!!!

Onyx: FIVE REVIEWS BEFORE CHAPTER FOUR!!!!

S: Well, that's…. effective, Onyx, thanks.


	4. Thinking

**Author's Note from S.**: Okay, first off: Apology. For those of you that didn't read my profile – I've been out of commission the past few months due to an interstate move of my entire family. We are now happily situated in Virginia, and I have turned my attention back to my much-neglected stories.

For those loyal readers and reviewers who are actually giving me another chance despite my lack of timely updates: THANK YOU SO MUCH! **andromeda90****, DarkPyroGirl, inuyasha0001, AndreAIaRae, Sesshomaru's elf,** and **Lady Element**: Thank you so much for your kind reviews**. blue leafy**: I don't want to give too much away, but I think I can make you even happier with the story in coming chapters. And **Hwoarang**** Girl**: I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to read my story, or for your praise. You have been one of my idols on since I started here, and having your praise is an honor. Thank you.

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**Additional Note from Onyx: **Since we've made you wait so long… I'm going to push my Hikari's ass as far into this computer chair as it will go, and see if we can get another chapter out to you all ASAP - no review requirement.

****

**S:** Ever so poetic, Onyx. Uhmmm…. Okay, disclaimer see chapter one, it's still slash, and Bakura is….. where?

(Kuriboh and Bakura go flying by, Kuriboh still carrying the 'Disclaimer See Ch. 1 sign) Eish, you'd think he'd get tired of lugging that thing around… Oh, yeah, WARNING: Mention of body piercing. Okay, that's everything! Roll'em!

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**_LIVES TO LIVE_**

Chapter Four: Thinking

After parading themselves through the long streets of Domino City between Kaiba's mansion and the Game shop, most of the Duel monsters were tired despite their exuberance. As they stood in the back rooms of the Game Shop, the major topic of debate was the sleeping arrangements. None of the monsters were willing to take Yami and Yuugi's room, but as there were only three bedrooms, four beds, and eight different beings, that left something of a dilemma.

"Celtos and I can share a room, Master, that isn't a problem" offered Damus, snagging his helmet away from Mirai as the young mage tried to balance it on her nose. The girl giggled in response.

"A bedroom? You two usually share a b " Damus' long hand clamped quickly over his sister's mouth, silencing the girl instantly. It looked like a highly practiced maneuver, and Yami wondered just how many times Damus had been forced to silence his sister in that manner. Shifting his gaze from Damus' hand to his face, he was surprised to see the magician's normally narrow blue eyes were wide with something that looked like panic.

"Sister" the mage began in firm tones"I doubt our Masters are interested in the particular sleeping arrangements of their monsters." Only when the she-mage nodded, looking sheepish, did he remove his hand.

"I can sleep anywhere there is need, Masters, even outside" offered Lustire quietly, and Yuugi jumped. Those were the only words the monster had spoken since telling them his name back at Kaiba's mansion. His voice was rich and deep, but rarely heard and therefore somewhat startling.

"I don't think it will come to that, Lustire" answered Yami with his usual confidence. "Damus and Celtos, you may take Grandfather's room, it is the first one at the top of the stairs. Amystria, Mirai, the guest room has two beds in it, you may have that one. Lustire - are you certain you do not wish a bed" The monster nodded in response, and Yuugi frowned as he examined the living room.

"The couch is fairly comfortable, I've slept there a few nights myself. Do you mind" A slight shake of the brilliantly red-haired head was his only answer, and Yuugi nodded slightly. "Okay, so what about Kuri"

"He'll sleep anywhere" Mirai answered cheerfully. As though to prove her point, the floating monster zoomed merrily by them and settled in a chair, cooing happily. Yami raised an eyebrow and Yuugi shrugged.

"Yami, why don't we go make up the beds? You guys, make yourselves comfortable…" Yuugi trailed off, a 'and don't break anything' clearly implied, although unspoken. The monsters nodded their agreement and quietly dispersed around the room, speaking to each other in soft tones. Sighing slightly, Yami unbuckled his second belt – the one that had his deck on it, in a hip holster – and set it on the coffee table before turning to follow his light up the stairs.

"Yami, how could this have happened?" Yuugi finally asked ten minutes later, as he and his darker half pulled the fitted sheet tight over his grandfather's mattress. Yami looked pensive for several minutes, staring at the corner of the sheet as he smoothed out nonexistent wrinkles.

"Yami?" Yuugi finally prodded him.

"There are a number of ways it could have happened, Aibou," the dark spirit answered, frowning. "The thought that immediately springs to mind is Shadow Majicks."

"But how is that possible? You and Bakura are the only ones that have any real Shadow powers anymore, and Ryou would have told us if Bakura…" Yuugi trailed off with a shrug. Although their friend currently exercised some control over his Yami's destructive impulses, the need for mischief still occasionally overtook the platinum-haired spirit.

"You're forgetting someone."

"I am? Who?"

"Malik's darker half. Isis has been calling him Mariku."

"Aren't they in Egypt, though?"

"Yes, probably trying to find a way into my tomb so they can desecrate it…" came the wry mutter.

"I think Isis would have mentioned something, though, if her brother – brothers? – were tapping into the Shadow Realm. Didn't you seal off his powers, anyway?"

"That is no guarantee where a Tomb Keeper is concerned."

Deciding to drop this uncomfortable line of conversation, Yuugi excused himself to the linen closet, leaving Yami to finish making the bed alone. They joined up again in the guest room a few minutes later, working together on each of the twin beds. This made the work go quickly, but throughout the time, Yami remained stubbornly silent, not meeting Yuugi's gaze. Realizing a change of subject was in order, Yuugi groped for a moment and finally settled on, "Do you think Damus and Celtos will mind sharing a bed?"

Yami blinked once, sharply, and glanced up at his light half. "No," he answered after a moment. "Didn't you hear what Mirai said?"

"Mirai has said kind of a lot," Yuugi pointed out, and Yami restrained a snort of laughter.

"When Damus offered for them to share a bedroom, Mirai was about to say that they usually share a bed," Yami answered, a faint twinkle appearing in his crimson eyes. Yuugi looked blank for a moment, but comprehension dawned quickly on his face.

"Oooh! I get it! They're - "

"Involved, yes. Although I'm not sure they're comfortable with us knowing that quite yet – remember how Damus reacted to his sister nearly exposing that fact?"

"Yeah – he looked a little panicked."

"So I wasn't imagining it."

"Nope, I noticed, too." Shoving the pillows back into place, Yuugi took a last, appraising glance around the room and quickly declared it finished.

"Excellent. Grab some blankets and pillows for Lustire, and we'll head back downstairs."

Nodding cheerfully, the young duelist bounded back to the closet, returning a moment later so laden with pillows and blankets that the pile towered over his head – and hair. Smiling faintly, Yami took the top two blankets off the stack, allowing Yuugi's eyes to peer over the armload of blankets he still carried.

"Shall I take anything else?"

"Nope, I've got it," came the cheerful reply, and Yuugi trotted off for the staircase. Yami shook his head in disbelief and followed.

When the two arrived back downstairs, they were understandably surprised to find Joey sitting on the sofa, deep in a discussion of dueling tactics with the Celtic Guardian.

"..you see, Pot of Greed would only risk further loss of life points in that scenario, because of the effects of the Just Desserts – Hello, Masters."

"Eh? Oh, hey, Yuug, Yami. Your Dark Magician let me in," Joey announced, as though having the door answered by a high-level spellcaster was an everyday occurrence. Turning back to the Elf, he asked simply, "Now, what's the best defense for that?"

And they went back to their discussion. Yuugi and Yami exchanged amazed glances and then scanned the room for the rest of the monsters. Damus, Mirai and Amystria were nowhere in sight. Kuri was dozing on top of the television, and Lustire was sitting on the floor by the window, staring silently out through the glass panes.

"Celtos, where are the rest of you?" Yami inquired, and the Elf glanced up from the table, his amber eyes widening slightly. "Damus and Mirai are in the kitchen, Master, but I do not know where Mysti is."

"Thank you. And please, stop calling me Master. I would prefer to be called Yami."

"Yes, Master Yami," came the too-innocent reply, and Yuugi could have sworn he saw a spark of humor in the Elf's eyes before they dropped back to the table, and the dueling deck that was sitting on it. "Now, in a situation where you are faced with a spellcaster," the Elf continued, reaching into the deck and pulling out two cards, "such as Damus," the mage's card landed face up on the table, "or Mysti," and here he set down the Mystical Elf's – "your best course of action…"

"Hey, how do ya do that?" Joey interrupted. "Pullin' out their cards like that?"

"Well, when you live in a deck for as long as I have," another card was withdrawn and dropped lightly on the table, revealing the title 'Celtic Guardian,' "you learn your way around it." All three of the cards were without a picture, containing only the title and stats. Plucking a couple more cards out of the deck, Celtos recited the names as he set each of the cards down, with unfailing accuracy. "Kuriboh… Mirai… Lustire… Gaia."

As he set down the last card, there was a sound like an explosion and a blinding flash of light. When the occupants of the room cleared their eyes, Joey was nowhere to be seen, and a tall, grey-skinned humanoid monster was standing in the center of the room, looking confused.

It might have been a little less astonishing if he was wearing his full battle armor, like the rest of the monsters had been. However, this monster was clad only from waist to knee in a thick white towel. He was quite handsome without his mask, possessing a strongly planed face with brilliant blue eyes and a narrow nose over a full mouth. His hair, a rich shade of gold, fell nearly to the middle of his back. A few strands had fallen forward over his shoulders, and brushed against his bare chest. Following the golden strands of hair with his eyes, Yuugi caught a glimpse of more gold- a slender golden stud lanced through each of the monster's dark-grey nipples. Yuugi suppressed a wince. Undoubtedly that was Yami's influence – Yuugi knew that piercings had been very common in ancient Egypt, even in males. Just as he was refocusing enough to inquire as to the monster's name, Celt's voice stopped him with a single word.

"Gaia!"

"Celtos?" the grey-skinned monster returned, looking no less stunned than the Elf. "What am I doing here?"

"Gaia?" Joey's disheveled blond head reappeared over the back of the sofa. Apparently, he'd wound up behind it in the confusion following the Knight's arrival. "As in, Gaia the Fierce Knight?"

"Yes, Gaia the Fierce Knight! Celtos, what am I doing here? I was just about to get in the bath!"

"So we can see," came Damus' amused retort. The indigo-haired mage was leaning against the doorway of the kitchen, surveying the grey-skinned knight with clear amusement.

"I don't know what you're doing here! I was showing your card and - "

"You summoned him?" Mirai, peeking around her brother's elbow, stared at the Elf with clear awe.

"I did no such thing!"

"Regardless of how he got here, the fact remains, he is here now," Yami stated with irrefutable logic. Gaia, hearing the sound of the Pharaoh's voice, spun around to face him. Upon seeing his masters, he became so flustered trying to bow and apologize for his appearance all at once that he lost his grip on his towel, and had to grapple to regain it. Amystria blushed purple and turned her back on the sight, and Damus promptly clapped a hand over his sister's eyes. Yami and Yuugi exchanged glances.

"Uhm, Yami? Maybe we should go run Gaia a bath…"

"Yes, Aibou, I think that is a very good idea."

-

S: (giggles) Bathtime Gaia! And yes, pierced nipples. Sorry if that squicks anyone… I couldn't resist. Onyx dared me to put a body piercing in somewhere. Initially, it was going to be Celtos who had pierced nipples, but there will be another couple GC-tidbits in the next chapter, and I didn't want to overload him.

Celtos: You're so considerate.

S: If I was considerate, this chapter would have gotten posted before I moved.

Celtos: (refrains from commenting)


	5. Revelations

**Author's Note from S:** I apologize, I really do. I had intended to have this out barely a week after the last chapter, but I work with horses for a living and they can make things a little chaotic. End result, I'm typing this one-handed due to three broken fingers. Please excuse any typing errors that result.

To my kind reviewers**; blue leafy**, **santurion3**, **Dutch Duelist**, **andromeda90**, and **DarkPyroGirl**, thank you ever so much. I wish my timeliness did justice to your kindness!

And **Hworang**** Girl**: (faints)

**Onyx**: ;;looks down at her, then bows to Hwoarang Girl;; An honor exceeding all honors. We thank you. ;;pokes Sarah with her toe;; Wake up, Hikari, or I'll banish Bakura to the Shadow Realm again.

**S**: (pops up) You can't do that! We need him for this chapter!

**Bakura**: To HUMILIATE me, you mean!

**S**: Hush, you'll give the whole thing away.

(Kuriboh goes sailing past with the 'Disclaimer see Ch. 1' sign)

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**_LIVES TO LIVE_**

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Chapter Four: Revelations

As Yuugi and Yami vanished up the stairs, all eyes turned to Celtos.

"I told you: the Elf growled, uncomfortable under their stares, "I did NOT summon him!"

"Well, somebody did," Gaia pointed out, walking over to Celtos' vacated seat on the couch and flopping into it. Joey, who was still standing behind the couch, stared down at him for a moment before walking to the edge of the couch and sitting on the arm.

Mirai was not so easily deterred, though. Dancing around Celtos, she peppered him with questions that no other monster would have been able to get away with. "Are you sure? Are you positive? Really, really positive?"

"Yes, yes, and again, yes! I'm an Elf, Mirai, we don't have magic!"

"Maybe some of big brother's magic got transferred to you while you were - "

""Mirai!"" Damus' stern voice mingled with Celt's exasperated one, and the young mage fell silent.

"Um… can I ask something?"

Looking slightly surprised, all the monsters shifted their gaze to Joey.

"Anything you wish, sir," Damus answered calmly as Celtos half-stomped across the room and threw himself down in the loveseat.

"If Elves can't do magic, than how does Mystical Elf do what she does?"

"She's a half-breed," Celtos answered, clearly still frustrated. "Damus' uncle is her father."

"Oh." There was a brief pause while Joey processed this, then; "Are you all related?"

"Mostly interrelated by group," Damus answered, seating himself next to Celtos. "The Dark Sage is my Grandfather, Cayenne - "

"Who?"

"The Magician of Black Chaos," Lustire replied, and several of the monsters jumped, having forgotten he was in the room. Even when Gaia appeared, he hadn't moved from his seat by the window.

"- is my cousin," Damus continued as though there had been no interruption. "Mysti is his half-sister, Gaia and Lustire are.. second cousins?"

"Third," Gaia corrected absently, dropping his head against the back of the couch and closing his eyes.

They were interrupted at that point by Yuugi bounding down the stairs, calling to Gaia that his bath was ready. As the monster quietly slipped out, Joey stood up to watch his friend.

"Where you goin', Yuug?"

"I need to call Ryou, and see if Bakura's been doing anything funny lately." Glancing in at the monsters scattered around the room, he added, "Why don't you guys all lie down for a bit? You look exhausted."

The suggestion was met with murmurs of agreement, and all except for Lustire (who gave no indication that he had heard at all) slowly filtered upstairs and to their respective bedrooms.

When he and Damus reached their temporary bedroom, Celtos couldn't help but sigh with relief. He had always hated to admit to exhaustion, but he was bone-tired and the queen-sized bed looked incredibly welcoming.

Damus muttered a brief incantation and gave a sigh of relief as his armor fell away, landing with muffled thuds on the carpet. "It's always a relief to get that stuff off at the end of a day." Although he was a powerful magician, Damus was not as strong physically, and his armor was heavy.

Celtos, who was now standing on the opposite side of the bed, quietly removed his helmet – he had put it back on to walk through town – and stared at it for a long moment. It took his friend's voice to snap him back to the present.

"Celt!"

"Hum? What?" Glancing up, he found the reflection of Damus' gaze in the mirror over the dresser. "Did you say something?"

"Aren't you going to take off your armor? I know it's more comfortable for you that way."

"It – yes," the Elf managed wearily, and undid his shoulder guards and cloak.

"Is something wrong?"

"Well…" Celtos paused with his chest plate half-off, supporting it with one hand. "I just feel a little uncomfortable, being in the Master's house and… continuing as we do."

The mage's face fell slightly. "You don't want our Masters to know?"

"Wha – no! I didn't mean it that way, love, I swear, I just - "

"You're afraid of their reaction."

Celtos nodded quickly, and Damus sighed slighltly, stripping out of his robe and standing in his leather tunic and breeches. Although he didn't share the Elf's fear, he understood it. When they had first begun their relationship, Celtos had been extremely timid, even fearful, of displaying their closeness. His most frequent argument was that he wasn't good enough for the high-level mage. Although physically powerful and extremely skilled in battle, his attack points didn't reflect that, and it had resulted in an inferiority complex.

Damus, who had the cunning of all mages, had made such a point of initiating public displays of affection that even Celtos had been forced to admit none of the other monsters objected. Now, stripping out of his tunic, the mage sent a reassuring look at Celtos in the mirror, and dropped the tunic before sitting down to take off his boots and socks. The rest of his things were in an untidy heap on the floor, and Celtos sent a disapproving glance at the back of his lover's head as he carefully folded his cloak. The rest of his armor was stacked very neatly on the chair beside the dresser.

Flopping facedown on the bed, now wearing only his skintight leather leggings, Damus propped his chin up on his fists and watched Celtos undress. The silly half-smile on the mage's face slipped away as Celtos stripped off his tight brown shirt, exposing his broad back to his lover's cerulean eyes.

Slowly, Damus' eyes traced over the jagged, pale-white scar that spanned the Elf's back, running from just behind his right shoulder blade across to his left hip. The scar, as wide as Damus' hand, was a mark he always remembered seeing, and always brought with it a vague, unidentifiable feeling of guilt, although he never knew why.

"It hasn't changed, you know."

The sound of Celt's voice brought him abruptly out of his reverie. "Sorry – what?"

"I said, it hasn't changed. The scar."

"I know," Damus answered, tilting his head back slightly as the Elf continued to regard him in the mirror. "It just always tugs at my memory. Like I should know something about it."

"Damus, love, even I don't remember where I got it," Celtos pointed out, turning back to face the mage. "I can only hope that our memories will return someday."

"And if they don't?" Rolling onto his back, Damus arched his neck to stare upside-down at the Elf, his head pressing into the center of the mattress.

"Then we keep going on as we have been," came the calm answer as Celtos seated himself on the edge of the bed, his back to Damus again. Frowning, the mage rolled over and raised himself up to his knees, staring at the back of the Elf's golden head. He was at the wrong angle to see Celt's face in the mirror, but he could sense his lovers' sudden sadness. Scooting forward on his hands and knees, he wrapped his arms around the Elf's waist and nuzzled into the side of his sensitive neck.

Celtos didn't react at first, but after a moment his muscles tightened slightly. That was the only warning Damus got before finding himself on his back on the mattress with his arms pinned above his head and the now-smirking Elf straddling his hips.

"I will _never _understand how you do that," Damus grumbled, crossing his eyes at the Elf now hovering a few inches above him. Celtos just laughed and planted a kiss on his lips. Instantly, Damus took advantage of the Elf's distraction and flipped them over, leaving a very startled Celtos on the bottom.

"I've been practicing," he explained, smirking at the astounded expression on his lover's face. Then, without another word, he leaned down and proceeded to kiss the Elf thoroughly.

Damus' senses were no more acute than those of a human, and, involved as he was with Celtos, that meant he didn't hear the unlatched door squeak open. Nor did he see when a head, crowned in distinctive three-colored hair, poked in. Therefore, he was understandably confused when the Elf beneath him began twisting as though trying to escape.

"Mmph.. love.. wait.. Damus! Yami!"

Damus sat up instantly, looking shocked. "Celtos, I understand that you loyalty to our Master is unwavering, but calling his name while I'm - "

"Oh, for - " At a loss for words, the Elf set his hands firmly on Damus' chest and pushed, sending the mage sprawling inelegantly to the floor below. Standing up, Celtos made a thoroughly useless attempt at straightening his pants before bowing to Yami. "Master, how may we assist you?"

Damus poked his head up from behind the bed, clearly startled. "Master!"

Yami restrained his smirk as best he could, which was not terribly well. "Hello, Damus. Both of you are requested in the living room – Bakura will be here shortly."

"As you wish, Master," answered a fiercely blushing Celtos, bending down to help Damus up and avoiding Yami's eyes.

"Oh, and you two?"

""Master?""

"If you close the door next time, you won't be interrupted."

Celtos blushed more brilliantly than ever, and Damus gave a half-nervous, half-embarrassed chuckle. Smirking more broadly than ever, Yami turned and walked down the hall to speak to Mysti and Mirai.

Exchanging silent glances, Damus and Celtos both reached for their shirts.

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"Honestly, don't you two ever quit?" Gaia exclaimed as the two came down the stairs a moment later. Celtos and Damus glanced at one another, realizing for the first time just how they looked – kiss-swollen lips, disheveled hair, and flushed faces.

"No," Damus answered him calmly, causing Celtos' blush to renew itself. Gaia snorted and turned his back on them, trying not to laugh.

Mirai, who had arrived downstairs a bit before her brother and Celtos, gave a shrill giggle, and Celtos glared at her.

"You're not one to talk, Little One," he mock-growled at her. "All of the times you've wreaked havoc in the deck…"

"My spells don't go awry that often," she countered, pouting slightly.

"Oh, so you actually meant to change Cayenne into a duck?" Damus inquired in a too-innocent voice.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did!"

"Funny," Celtos murmured, "I could have sworn you said you were trying to change him into a chipmunk."

Mirai promptly threw her staff at him. Celtos, however, was an Elf, and possessed all the speed of his race. He ducked instantly, causing the staff to soar over him and strike Gaia squarely in the back of the head. There was a flash of light, and where the grey-skinned monster had been standing there was now a grey… squirrel.

Damus, Celtos, and Yami all rounded on the young mage. " " "MIRAI!" " "

"I didn't mean it, I swear!"

"Hold on, I'll fix it," muttered Damus, summoning his staff from the bedroom. Before it could reach him, however, their problems compounded. The door to the living room swung open to admit Ryou Bakura, who was closely followed by his Yami.

Squirrel-Gaia, already nervous due to all the people in the room, decided that he needed to find a nice, comfy hiding place. Being possessed of the rather flighty logic that all squirrels have, he decided an ideal hiding place would be inside the leg of Yami Bakura's pants.

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A half an hour later, Damus was using his own magic to remove the last traces of Gaia's squirrel tail. Yuugi, sitting on the sofa, was busy binding a handkerchief around the bloody bite on Yami's forearm – sustained not from Gaia, but Yami Bakura. Said spirit was sulking in the Ring with no intention of coming out, still burning with the humiliation of being forced to drop his pants in order to dislodge Gaia, and severely regretful of his decision to go commando today.

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**S: **(giggles)

**Bakura:** You see? HUMILAITION!

**Onyx: **Oh, shut up. Okay, credit where credit is due: the comment about turning Chaos into a duck is a brief tribute to Hwoarang Girl's story 'Troubles of Chibi Proportion.' We hope you don't mind – it was just too hilarious to pass up!

**Celtos:** Yes, welcome to Mirai's Magical Menagerie of Mayhem.

**Mirai: **(throws her staff at Celtos again, who ducks, again, and the staff hits Yami Bakura, who is changed into a seagull)

**All: **MIRAI!

**Mirai: **Um… oops?


	6. Reflections

**S:** Urk…..

**Onyx:** Poetic, ne?

**S:** I'm sorry. I really am. Life is chaotic. On the upside, though, all my fingers work now. Thank you's go out to **Lady Element, DarkPyroGirl**, (Katie, for crying out loud, mail me some time, would you!) **Rose Kitsune.EXE** (love the name, BTW) **inuyasha0001**, and **blue leafy**. To the loyal; I owe you so much. To the new; welcome and thanks! I apologize, again –

**Onyx**: Incessantly, you mean!

**S:** -for the delay. Kuriboh has by now put down his 'Disclaimer see chapter one' sign, and Bakura still isn't speaking to me after the squirrel incident, although I'm still trying to decide if that's a good thing or bad…

**Kakashi:** Why, you don't like him?

**S/Onyx:** (stare)

**S:** Kakashi, what are you doing here? If you're looking for other people with silver hair, can't you go play with the inu-yokai like everyone else?

**Kakashi:** (sighs and vanishes in a puff of smoke)

**S:** S'what I get for being on a Naruto kick. I'm going to roll the story before anyone else shows up.

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_**LIVES TO LIVE**_

Chapter Six: Reflections

"Nothing?"

"I'm very sorry, Yami. Neither Bakura nor I have felt anything in the way of Shadow Majiks," Ryou repeated, shaking his head. The silver-haired boy was seated on the couch, his wide brown eyes trailing Yami as the former Pharaoh paced the length of the carpet. Damus was sitting on the loveseat, glaring at the ring resting against the boy's chest as though trying to melt it with his gaze.

"You are both positive? I cannot think of another reason for Seto's Duel Disks to malfunction so severely, and as you two are the only ones aside from myself with remaining control of your Shadow powers, I think -"

A brief change rippled over Ryou's gentle face before he snapped in a much deeper, very scathing voice, "You're _rambling_, O Pharaoh of Fools!"

"Hold your tongue, Tomb Robber," Yami snapped back absently, shaking his head when that provoked a flood of epithets in some long-forgotten language. "You're lucky I understood as little of that as I did, thief, or I'd - "

"Can we please pretend to be civilized here?" Yuugi interrupted, nearly tripping over the coffee table in his haste to step between the two combatants. "Damus, is something wrong?" The expression on the Dark Magician's face was suddenly reminiscent of someone who had just eaten a lemon. The mage shook his head rapidly, but a faint whimpering sound escaped him. Celtos, who was sprawled on the floor, resting his head against the loveseat next to Damus' knee, glanced up at the mage.

"He's fine, Master, he's just trying not to laugh."

Bakura swung his hard eyes toward the Elf. "Laugh? What is there to laugh about?"

Celtos shrugged slightly. "Damus speaks about twenty languages, the ancient tongues among them. I'm guessing you mistranslated something."

At that moment, the magician lost his rather tenuous control and exploded into laughter – not a weak chuckle, but a full-throated, body-shaking flood of mirth that had Celtos sliding all the way to the floor, to avoid getting a knee in the back of the head. The other occupants of the room just stared.

Perplexed, Yami turned to stare at Bakura. "Just what did you say to me, thief?"

His question was met with a wide-eyed stare – Bakura had retreated again and left Ryou in his place.

"Coward," groused Yami, and turned to stare at the half-hysterical mage, willing him back to something resembling sanity.

It took anther moment of gasping for Damus to get himself under control enough to answer. Hiccuping, the magician managed to stammer out a translation: 'Your cat's figs aren't fit to lick a camel's fishbowl!'

Yami blinked twice and shook his head. Yuugi rubbed the back of his own head, looking bemused. "I'm guessing that wasn't what he meant to say?"

"Bakura!" A scandalized yelp turned all eyes toward Ryou, who was glaring as best he could at the Ring.

"What'd he say this time?" chortled Joey, who was wiping tears of mirth from his eyes.

"He just gave me the translation of what he was trying to say, and I'm _not _repeating it," Ryou answered, going very red.

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An hour or so later, Ryou had returned home and Yuugi was pacing the bedroom he shared with Yami while his darker half watched from the bed.

"You're going to wear out the carpeting, you know," Yami mumbled after some time. "What's bothering you?"

"I'm just worried about the monsters, that's all."

Yami raised his eyebrows in a silent question. After Gaia's arrival, there had been another debate over sleeping arrangements, which had ended when Gaia lay down on the living room carpet and fallen immediately asleep.

Lustire had continued to sit silently by the window for several hours before claiming his spot on the couch.

"It's just…" Yuugi frowned and began pacing again, his blue cotton pyjamas rustling. "There's no guarantee that Seto will have this fixed soon, and we can't keep them cooped up here, but we can't exactly let them go walking around in full battle armor, either."

Yami's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "You have a point, Aibou. And I have a plan."

"You do?"

Holding up the corner of the covers, Yami beckoned to his lighter half. "Come to bed, and I'll tell you all about it."

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"Yuugi, that is possibly the most idiotic thing I have ever heard."

"It is not, Seto," Yuugi replied, exasperation beginning to seep into his voice. He'd been on the phone with the irritable CEO for five minutes now, and most of it had been spent arguing about the wisdom of 'letting a bunch of imaginary monsters wander around on their own.' "People see what they expect to see, especially in this city. As long as they're not wearing battle armor, we shouldn't have a problem. You have the exact same build as him, so your things will fit him nicely."

"His hair is purple."

"Mine has burgundy tips, what's your point?" The doorbell chimed behind him, and Yami, who had been sitting on the counter, staring into his coffee cup for the past ten minutes, quickly hopped down to answer it.

"You think that just because they're wearing street clothes, people won't notice a bunch of Duel Monsters parading around the city? The Mystical Elf has bright blue skin!"

"I've been speaking to Damus about glamours – illusion enchantments. He can disguise her skin easily." Glancing up from the phone, Yuugi waved to Joey as the blond boy strolled in.

"And the Elf's ears?"

"Yes, and Celt's ears."

There was an exasperated sigh on the other end of the phone. "I'll be down in an hour. I'm providing clothes for the Dark Magician only, correct?"

"Yes, I've already called Mai, Teá, Tristan, and Joey, and they're willing to - "

"Ask me if I _care, _Yuugi. One hour." And he hung up without waiting for Yuugi's reply, leaving the boy staring at the phone is something bearing a suspicious resemblance to annoyance.

"Always a joy, talkin' to that jerk," Joey muttered as he pushed into the living room and dropping his bag of clothes on the couch. Behind him, Teá and Tristan walked into the kitchen, carrying their spare clothes in as well. Yami trailed in after them, not looking particularly focused.

"He's not really that bad, Joey," Yuugi defended as he hung up the handset of the phone. "Face it, he's got a lot to deal with, between his company, the college classes he's taking, and those theme parks…"

"Yeh, yeh, yeh.."

"Yuugi has a point, Joey," Teá pointed out as she set her box of neatly folded clothes on the coffee table, careful not to scrape the wood with the cardboard corners. "Kaiba has a lot of responsibilities."

"Yeh? How about a responsibility to manners?"

"I'm with Joey," Tristan informed the world at large as he dropped his two bags of clothes on the floor in front of the couch. "Kaiba's nothing but a rich jerk."

"At least he's pretty."

There was a significant pause before the threesome turned around, facing the inverted figure on the loveseat behind them. Mirai was draped upside down over the chair as usual, her blond hair pooling on the floor, her bare feet swinging back and forth. The position made an interesting presentation of some of her more noticeable attributes, but her face was hidden behind a book, also inverted.

"Joey," Tristan hissed, elbowing his friend in the side, "isn't that the Dark Magician Girl?"

Joey looked at his friend as though he'd just asked if two plus two were four. "Of course she is. Didn't Yuug explain the situation before you came down here?"

"Well, yeah, but…"

"Mirai," Joey demanded, ignoring Tristan for the moment, "did you just say Kaiba was _pretty_?"

The girl set the book aside and blinked up at him, her green eyes wide with astonishment. "Of course. He looks just like my big brother, and all the monsters in the deck say that my big brother is pretty… 'specially Celtos," she added with a giggle, glancing up towards the sofa as Gaia tried to slip back out, unnoticed. "Isn't the Dragon-Master just as pretty as my brother, Gaia?"

"I couldn't say," the Knight answered gruffly, and vanished upstairs with his borrowed clothes and without another word.

"Now that you mention it - "

"Joey, _please _don't tell me you think Kaiba is pretty!" Tristan pleaded, and hastily ducked the halfhearted punch his friend aimed at his head.

"Would you shaddup a second? I was just gonna say that Mirai's right, and Damus does look an awful lot like Kaiba. Same eyes, same cheekbones, same chin…" Joey realized somewhat belatedly that everyone, including Mirai and Yami, was staring at him, and trailed off. "What?"

"Joey," Tristan began cautiously, "just how much time do you spend memorizing Kaiba's face, anyway?"

"Lay off, Tris, I'm just sayin' - "

"Guys!" Shouldering in between them, Teá quickly ended the would-be argument. "Of course Kaiba's good-looking, otherwise he wouldn't be the most eligible bachelor in all of Japan. It's just his personality that…. needs work."

Joey snickered. "Comin' from you, Teá, that's downright mean."

"What's mean? Teá? Hello, boys."

"Hey, Mai," chirped Yuugi as the female duelist strolled in. "We were just discussing Kaiba. Do you want a hand with that?" Mai, burdened as she was with an immense lavender leather suitcase in one hand and a makeup case over her shoulder, grinned down at the young duelist.

"Thanks, kiddo, but these bags probably weigh more than you do." These words were immediately followed by a squeak and a thump as Mirai toppled off her chair in surprise.

"You brought all that for me!"

If Mai was at all surprised to meet the young mage in person, she gave no indication. Instead, she pulled the girl to her feet with her free hand and flashed her the same dazzling grin she used to incapacitate male opponents on the duel field, winking at the same time. "Sure, honey. You want to go try on some outfits?"

Mirai gave a delighted squeal, bouncing forward and throwing her arms around the woman's neck. "Ooh, can we? I love trying on clothes!"

This time, Mai's smile was genuine. "That's good, because I have a lot of clothes for you to try on. Which room are you in?" Mirai, bouncing with excitement, practically dragged Mai up the stairs, past her brother and Celtos, forcing the male monsters to flatten themselves against the banister. Mai managed to wink a greeting at them as she scrambled by; they nodded respectfully in return.

"Please try to put her in something a little less revealing!" Damus called as an afterthought, and followed a snickering Celtos down to the living room.

"Eh, why do ya let her dress like that in the first place, Damus, if ya don't approve of it?" Joey inquired of the mage as he joined the group. Yami slipped out of the room again, mumbling something about needing more coffee.

"Good morning to you as well, sir, and I feel that my sister is old enough to make her own decisions. If she wishes to dress like a courtesan, it's really not my place to correct her."

"Fair enough, I guess. And good morning."

Damus nodded slightly as Celtos shifted behind him, uncomfortably aware of the awestruck gazes of the two non-duelists.

"Teá, Tristan, I'd like you to meet Damus and Celtos. Damus, Celtos, my friends Teá and Tristan," Yuugi piped up from between Joey and Damus. "I think you've all seen each other before, but in any case…"

The two monsters bowed from the waist, murmuring greetings, while Teá and Tristan stared. Meeting Mirai, who was not particularly intimidating at a height of barely five-four, was not the same as meeting Damus, who towered over everyone from his lofty six-foot one height, or Celtos, who was a couple inches shorter but with broader shoulders and a more powerful form.

"Wow," Tristan murmured, clearly astonished, as he gazed up at the two monsters. "Hey, Damus may look like Seto, but Celtos looks like Joey!"

"What?" Two pairs of amber eyes flashed towards the brunette boy, both narrowed in confusion.

"Hey, wow, Tristan, you're right!" Standing on her tiptoes with a dancer's grace, Teá peered more closely at their faces. "Without the ears and tattoos, you two could be twins," she informed the two blonds, who exchanged glances and walked as one to the downstairs bathroom. Standing side-by-side in front of the mirror, they gazed at the double reflection for a moment before realizing that Tristan and Teá were indeed correct – although Joey's jaw was a little wider and Celt's cheekbones a bit more pronounced, they still could have passed for brothers.

"This is getting' freaky," Joey grumbled as they started back towards the living room. "I'm feelin' like part of a bookend set. First Damus is a dead ringer for Kaiba, an' now you and I look like twins!"

"The difference on our bookend is that Damus and I are lovers," Celtos pointed out somewhat absently, his voice cast low enough not to carry past Joey.

"Hmph! Yeah, picture me an' Kaiba?"

Celtos shrugged slightly as they walked back into the living room. "Is that what you want?"

Joey glanced around, somewhat alarmed, but nobody else seemed to have heard the comment. Tristan, Teá, Yuugi and Yami were all clustered around the couch next to Damus. Seated in it was a blond man that neither Celtos nor Joey recognized until he lifted his head.

"Gaia! Wow, nice glamour, Damus," Joey exclaimed, surveying the Knight's new appearance. Gaia's thick blond hair was loosely pony-tailed and complemented by a light tan, which made his snapping blue eyes seem more intense. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a black tee shirt. A windbreaker, navy blue with yellow piping, was resting over his knee.

"Thank you," Damus answered, passing the bag of clothes that Joey had brought over the table to Celtos. "Would you like a hand getting dressed?" Damus inquired 'innocently,' moving as though to follow the Elf up the stairs. Gaia gave a derisive snort and hauled the mage back by the hem of his tunic.

"When is the last time you helped Celtos put clothing _on_?" Gaia pointed out, and Damus sat down looking annoyed. A few nervous giggles, mostly from Tristan and Teá, erupted, at the comment. Celtos grinned at the group, blushing, and jogged up the stairs with his clothes.

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Forty-five minutes later, the whole group of monsters had assembled in the living room. Seto, who had shown up twenty minutes early, was now standing face-to-face with Damus in the middle of the room, ice blue eyes meeting ice blue eyes, although Damus was an inch taller than the chestnut-haired CEO.

Unlike Joey and Celtos, Kaiba and Damus were perfect mirror-images. Even their bangs fell in the same manner, the thicker lock falling between their narrow eyes, shorter strands brushing their foreheads, a longish lock in front of each ear.

Joey took one look at them, shook his head, and turned his back on the sight. "_One_ Moneybags was bad enough. Now there's two of them! It ought to be against the law! And that outfit doesn't help!" Damus was wearing black leather pants that fit him like a second skin, molded to every smooth curve. An ice-blue silk shirt made his eyes seem more vibrant than ever, and over top of it he wore a dark purple trench coat, one of Kaiba's spares. It was a little less elaborate than the ones the CEO favored, lacking the wire supports that made Kaiba's coats flare without wind.

"Mutt, the fact that the magician and I have a passing resemblance isn't nearly as much of a crime as what you've done to that Elf." Celtos was wearing a pair of blue jeans that fit snugly where it counted, a white tee shirt that clung to the ripples of his muscular torso, and a brown leather jacket. His hair was restrained in a low ponytail that made his eyes seem more open – the end result had Damus very nearly drooling.

"If what he's done is criminal, there is something wrong with your law system, Dragon Master," managed Damus, shaking his head in an attempt to focus himself.

"Agreed," came a deep voice from behind Seto, and everyone jumped. It was Lustire, wearing an emerald-green tee shirt, straight-leg black jeans, and a thigh-length black leather jacket that made him look desirably dangerous. Damus had to shake himself back to present long enough to perform a glamour on the soldier, who was looking particularly strange in street clothes with his pale-green skin. The fact that he had a hip-length, copper-red ponytail was less of an issue, particularly considering the company he was keeping; between Damus' waist-length braid and Mysti's hair, which was nearly down to her knees, it wasn't particularly abnormal.

The Mystical Elf was sitting quietly on the sofa as Teá braided up her impossibly long hair, her hands folded in the lap of her ankle-length khaki skirt. The pale-green tee shirt and white denim jacket she wore suited her trim figure nicely.

Mai, having successfully dressed Mirai in light blue jeans, a white crop halter top, and a cotton-candy pink jacket, was now occupying herself with teasing Celtos. She, like Damus, had no objection whatsoever to the clothes Joey had provided, and was toying good-naturedly with the shy Elf, who was blushing brighter than a stoplight as she ran her hands over his chest.

"You clean up _so_ well," she murmured in her best bedroom voice, looking at him through her lashes. Seeing the desperation on the monster's face, Yami reined in Mai's humor.

"I wouldn't bother, Mai, I don't think you're his type."

"Understatement of the millennia," Gaia mumbled from his seat, but nobody heard him. "You could try Lustire," he snipped in a slightly louder voice, causing both monsters to turn towards him.

"I'm taken, Knight!"

"Lustire is NOT my type!"

"Well, who is, then?" Mai teased Celtos, winking at Lustire in an attempt to relax the rather tightly wound soldier. Damus, smirking, stepped up behind Celtos and wrapped his arms around the Elf's waist. When he was sure he had the attention of everyone in the room, he ran the tip of his tongue up the edge of the Elf's sensitive ear, looking smug. Celtos let out a soft, involuntary moan, his eyes fluttering shut as he slumped back against his lover's chest.

"Well, that answers that," Mai remarked wryly, fanning herself.

"Okay, knock it off. You two look _way_ too much like Joey and Kaiba to do that and not give me nightmares," Tristan spoke up. Seto and Joey exchanged disbelieving glances, and turned as one to glare at Tristan. "What? They do!" Tristan yelped in response.

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Kaiba abandoned the group shortly before they left for the park, leaving Mokuba in his stead. "Much as I'd love to stay and baby-sit," he'd snarked on his way out, "_some_ of us have work to do." Mokuba, on the other hand, was perfectly content to join the group for the rest of the day, and it was only his eyes that caught the fact Damus had forgotten to glamour Celt's ears and tattoos while the Elf was on his way out the door.

"My eyes were elsewhere," the magician admitted ruefully, and pinched the Elf's denim-clad backside to prove his point, causing Celtos to yelp on a pitch that most male singers would have given their right leg – or something in that vicinity – to achieve.

The first few minutes of the walk progressed peacefully, but somewhere between the shop and the park, Mirai and Damus wound up in the middle of a heated argument.

"…and you _know _Father wouldn't have approved of you wearing such things!" Damus exclaimed, gesturing to the halter top that exposed, if possible, more of Mirai's endowments than her costume did.

"Father wouldn't have cared; I don't see why you do!" Mirai shrilled back, causing Celtos to wince.

"Because I'm the one responsible for you!"

"I can be responsible for myself!"

"Are they like this often?" Yuugi asked Celtos in an undertone. The Elf, who was staring off somewhere to the left, shook his head slightly, nearly displacing the Kuriboh, which was riding on his shoulder disguised as an overly fluffy dog.

"No, Master, perhaps twice a year. Stress."

"You never do your practice, even when I remind you, you dress like a courtesan, your spells cause mass _chaos_ – I'll trust you to be responsible for yourself when you prove you're able!" Damus all but shouted, black sparks of majic snapping around his clenched fists. Celtos silently touched two fingers to the mage's wrist, a gentle reminder not to lose control. Damus regained himself with difficulty, his mouth set in a thin line.

"Mirai, listen to your brother," Celtos rebuked gently, and the girl whirled on him.

"I _knew_ you'd side with him, you _always_ side with him, he's not always right you know, he's being _mean_ to me!"

"WHAT!" Damus spun to face her, incredulous, and Celtos immediately stepped between them.

"That is _enough_," he informed them, in a tone so final that neither mage offered a word of complaint. Regardless, Mirai sulked all the way to the park, and Damus spent the entire walk with his jaw clenched.

When they reached the park, Mirai was stubbornly refusing to talk to Damus, and Damus was stubbornly refusing to be bothered by it. It had been previously agreed that the group would disperse into smaller units of two, three and four, serving the dual purpose of being less conspicuous and getting the monsters away from one another for a little while.

"We're always together, but we're not accustomed to being in such close quarters," Celtos had explained earlier. "It's understandable that we're starting to wear on each other's nerves a little."

There was a nature trail running along one side of the park that Amystria wanted to see; she and Teá departed almost immidiatly. Mirai, with her nose in the air, caught Mai's wrist and flounced off, going in no particular direction except away. Celtos rubbed his temples and sighed, watching as Tristan and Joey split off, followed by Gaia, Lustire, and Mokuba.

"Master, is there any tranquil location around here?" Damus asked, a faintly desperate note in his voice.

"The lake is very quiet this time of year," Yuugi answered, and lead the way.

The lake was a beautiful place; the sun sparked diamonds off the rippling water, and the carpet of grass on the bank was as lush as velvet. Damus sank down on the bank with an expression of bliss, turning his face upwards to the warm sun. Crossing his legs before him, he settled his wrists on his knees, closed his eyes, and instantly sank into a deep meditation. Celtos flopped down, willfully graceless, next to his lover, and rolled face-up to enjoy the warm sun. Yami and Yuugi shrugged and joined them, laughing softly as they watched Kuriboh scolding the Elf for dislodging it. The five of them were utterly relaxed, which made a pleasant change after the past days.

The peace lasted almost two hours. Damus had emerged from his meditation, far calmer than he had been, and was now sitting up on the bank with Celt's head resting in his lap, finger-combing the Elf's hair. Yami and Yuugi were lying head-to-head on the bank behind them, speaking in low voices and watching Kuriboh chasing falling leaves. The small creature, glamoured to represent a shaggy terrier, had just caught a leaf in its mouth when two shrill, panicked screams split the air.

All four were on their feet in an instant.

"Mai!" Yuugi gasped, eyes wide.

"_Mirai!"_ Damus cried, and set off at a sprint. Celtos cursed, seized the Kuriboh, and leaped after the mage. Yami and Yuugi bolted after them, but both monsters were far faster than they were. By the time they had caught up, the two monsters were standing in a small clearing, breathing hard in a combination of exertion and panic. Mai lay unconscious at their feet, a bloody lump forming on her forehead. Above her, a Dark Magician Girl card had been pinned to a tree by means of an elaborate Egyptian dagger driven through it's heart. And worst of all was the fact that Mirai was completely, undeniably gone.

TO BE CONTINUED…..


	7. Arrivals

**S**: I AM SO SORRY!!! I really did not intend this to take as long as it did!!! I lost my first draft, started to rewrite it, found my first draft, and then was too busy with Real Life (so annoying!!!) to be able to type it!!!

**Onyx**: Are you quite finished?

**S**: I guess so. (looks around, half-expecting Kakashi or Bakura or Kuriboh to be hanging around)

**Onyx**: I think they've all given up on us. Just hold up the sign and get on with it.

**S**: (holds up the 'Disclaimer See Chapter One' sign)

**Dedications:** Chapter is dedicated to **inuyasha0001**, for giving me a boot up the butt, and to **blue leafy**, because you'll like it. (I hope!)

**Warnings: **Uhm, nothing serious… mild language, more shonen-ai, minor suggestion of het. Only major thing is unintentional self-injury and arboreal damage… As always, read at your own risk. Ta!

_**LIVES TO LIVE**_

Chapter Seven: Arrivals

For a long moment, nobody moved. Damus was the first to react; wrenching the dagger out of the tree and catching his sister's card as it fluttered to the ground. Two seconds later, a crash announced the arrival of Joey and Lustire, the former looking winded with exertion and panic, the latter looking faintly concerned. The pair took in the scene almost immediately, before their gazes settled on Damus. The mage was shaking.

"What - " Joey got no further than that when Damus spun towards them, his eyes snapping with blue fire.

"Someone find Mysti," the mage ordered, clutching the torn card like a lifeline. Without question, Lustire turned and raced out of the clearing along one of the paved park walkways, gone to search for the absent mystic. Looking disbelieving, Joey stumbled towards Mai, dropping to one knee to check the woman's pulse. Celtos set the cooing Kuriboh by the unconscious woman's side, then turned, moving towards a path at the far side of the clearing. Before he could get far, though, Yami called him back, searching rapidly through his deck and withdrawing a single card.

"Here," the spirit said quickly, extending a card to the golden haired Elf. "Silver Fang."

"What am I to do with his card, Master?" The Elf was genuinely perplexed, but Yami was almost expecting that.

"You summoned Gaia, no matter how unintentionally. Perhaps you can do the same again."

Celtos' expression was dubious, but he accepted the card without argument, raising it over his head and closing his eyes. "Silver Fang!"

Somehow, Celtos was the only one surprised when there was a brilliant flash of light and the white wolf appeared, blinking, in the clearing. Staring between the wolf and the now-blank card in his hand, he only shook his head. "I'm not even going to ask… Silvis! Find Mysti!"

The wolf let out a single, sharp bark and took off at a run, opposite the direction Lustire had gone. Celtos swore once, then shot off after the creature at a full sprint. Within moments, both were out of sight. Damus, meanwhile, moved to the center of the clearing, closed his eyes and pressed his fingertips against his temples. A faint, blue-white glow began emanating from the center of his forehead. Yuugi and Joey stared in astonishment; Yami watched as though struggling to recall something.

However, a rustling in the bushes by Mai's feet drew their attention away from the mage. Yami raised his hands slightly, a faint black aura appearing around them, but lowered them instantly when Gaia's face appeared out of the brush. The knight took one look at the scene, cursed, and leapt out of the bushes, clearing Mai's prone form and about ten feet of ground, to land nearly next to Damus.

"Who's missing?" Gaia asked as he landed, giving Tristan room to squirm out of the bush as well, carrying Mokuba pig-a-back.

"Mirai," Yuugi answered immediately, confusion evident on his face. "But how did you - "

"He's doing an energy trace. If Mirai's close by, he'll be able to feel her energy signature, and use it to track her. I saw him do this once before, when she pitched a fit over something and ran away from the Deck… Damn, what kind of trouble is she in this time?"

Quite abruptly, Damus gave a low moan and collapsed to his knees, his head bowed and his face in his hands.

"Sir!" Gaia, anxious, darted forward, dropping to one knee and setting his hands on the mage's shoulders. "Are you all right? Did you find her?"

"No," came the shaky reply, barely more than a whisper. "I can't find her signature anywhere."

At that moment, Celtos reappeared, slightly out of breath, with Silver Fang, Mysti, and Teá in tow. Mysti did not hesitate, but dropped to her knees by Mai's shoulder, placing her hands over the lump on the woman's head. A pale blue glow rose from her palms, and the injury slowly shrank down to nothing.

Joey was the first one after that to find his voice. "Neat trick ya got there."

Mai gave a faint groan as she regained consciousness, her eyes slowly blinking open and a look of confusion stealing over her face. "Joey?"

The boy nodded slightly, leaning forward. "Yeh, it's me. You okay?"

"My head hurts," Mai answered, lifting a hand to her temple just before an expression of terror swept over her face. "Mirai! He's trying to kidnap Mirai!"

"Who?" Yami demanded, stepping forward into Mai's line of vision. "Who kidnapped her?"

Mai shook her head slowly, flinching a little and clearly confused. "I couldn't see his face… He was wearing a cloak, and a mask, I think."

Celtos stared at the woman for almost a full thirty seconds after she had fallen silent, then looked to Damus, staring brokenly at the ground. Without warning, the Elf took two long strides to the tree where the card had been impaled, drew back his fist, and struck the tree with all his strength. The thick trunk split down the middle from the force of his blow, and ruby-bright droplets splattered across the rough bark. Turning on one heel, his injured hand hanging limp at his side, the Elf strode to where Damus knelt and shoved Gaia forcefully out of the way before pulling the mage to his chest. Damus reacted almost instinctively, winding his long fingers into Celtos' shirt and burying his face in the crook of Celtos' neck and shoulder.

Mai, sitting up with Joey's help, twisted carefully around until her eyes fell on the shaking mage and the furious Elf who held him close.

"He… took her, didn't he?" she ventured quietly, and Joey nodded.

"Whoever he was, he was long gone by the time we got here. We heard ya scream, but we couldn' run fast enough, I guess."

"I'm sorry…"

"It is not your fault, Mai." Yami's tone was forceful enough that any thought of argument fled the woman's mind, and she watched as the Pharaoh helped Gaia to his feet. As the winded Knight walked away, Yami crouched next to Damus, his face dark with concern. "Damus, it will be all right. We will find Mirai again, and I will punish the person that took her. It will be all right."

Damus, however, straightened so abruptly that his head struck the underside of Celtos' jaw, rising to his feet in one blindingly fast movement to tower over the diminutive Pharaoh. His magic seemed to be going haywire; black sparks were dancing around him like fireworks.

"No," the mage hissed, "it will _not _be all right! Our parents' last order to me was to defend my sister! They charged me with protecting her, and I FAILED!!"

In Yami's mind, the magician's face and voice somehow twisted themselves into those of Seto Kaiba, echoing the older boy's anguish of not long ago, when Mokuba had been stolen away. The shock suddenly overwhelmed the spirit, who reeled backwards a step, landing on his backside on the grass with a muffled thump.

Damus was swaying on his feet, completely drained from his wild emotions. When he crumpled again, it was so swiftly that Celtos barely had time to catch him before he hit the ground. The Elf's hand ghosted briefly over the mage's too-pale face, down over the pulse-point in his neck, up again over the closed eyelids.

"Is he okay?" Yuugi's voice was a half an octave higher than usual, but surprisingly steady.

"He passed out." The answer was tense, low-voiced. "He won't wake up until his powers have resettled themselves."

"Say what, now?"

Celtos barely glanced at Joey. "It's a defensive mechanism – all mages have it. Their powers are linked to their emotions. When they get distraught, their powers will go completely out of control. Their bodies can't handle the vacillations, and they shut down to avoid being destroyed."

Joey looked more confused than ever, but Yuugi nodded in careful comprehension. "So, if he gets too stressed, his majic gets too strong, and he passes out?"

"It's the same for all mages, not just him. But yes, that's it."

"Okay, next question for ya – when's he gonna wake up?"

"Not for the next several hours, at least. It takes a lot for Damus to lose control like this – I've known him since the Deck was assembled, and this has only happened twice." The Elf pulled his gaze away from the unconscious mage long enough to lock eyes with the younger of his two Masters. "He needs to rest until his powers settle."

Yuugi nodded. "I understand. The rest of us will look for Mirai, see if we can uncover any clues to where she was taken."

"I'll go to KaibaCorp and get Seto to help us," Mokuba spoke up instantly.

"I can cover more ground on Zephyr," Gaia added quietly, "but I'll need someone to glamour him."

"I will go with Gaia," offered Amystria, stepping forward.

"Very well." Yami had finally recovered himself, and rose to his feet, gathering his regal air about him once again. "Celtos, take Damus home and stay with him. Gaia and Mysti, go with Mokuba to retrieve Zephyr, then attempt to convince Kaiba to help us. The rest of us," he glanced around at Joey, Teá, Tristan, Yuugi, Mai, Lustire, Silver Fang, and Kuriboh, "will stay here and begin the search."

Celtos rose quietly to his feet, lifting the unconscious Damus bridal-style in his arms with no visible effort, and walked out the clearing. Mokuba beckoned to Gaia and Mysti, and the three set off for the center of town at a run. With them gone, eight pairs of eyes fastened themselves firmly to Yami's bloodred ones.

"Pair off," the Pharaoh ordered flatly. "Lustire, come with Yuugi and I. Joey, Tristan, meet up with Gaia and Mysti when they return. I want no monster unattended until this is solved."

"What about Celtos and Damus, then?" Teá asked worriedly. "You sent them out alone!"

Yami sighed heavily before answering. "Mirai was at a disadvantage. She is neither as trained nor as powerful as Damus, particularly without her staff. However, Celtos is a warrior and he has a knife in each boot."

Night had long since fallen by the time the group returned to the Game Shop. Celtos, his nose buried in a book and his hand buried in Damus' hair, glanced up sharply at the soft knock on the bedroom door.

"Come."

The door squeaked open a foot or so, and Yami poked his head in. "How is he?"

Celtos set his book aside and glanced down at the figure beside him. Damus' head was lying against the Elf's thigh, his blue eyes still tightly closed, though tear tracks marred his porcelain cheeks. His arm was resting over Celtos' waist, his hand clenched convulsively on the blankets over the Elf's opposite hip.

"Still not well," Celtos answered flatly, stroking the magician's long hair with his wounded hand. Yami's eyes traced briefly over the white bandages wrapped over the shattered knuckles, but refrained from commenting. "He's been screaming in his sleep."

When Yami's eyes widened in alarm, Celtos shook his head slightly. "You have to understand, his parents have been dead since he was a child. Their last wish was that he protect his sister. Their grandfather could provide training, but he is ignorant in the ways of raising children. Damus has been the closest thing to a parent Mirai has ever known, and he feels for her more as a father than a brother. He has trained her to the best of his ability, but Mirai has always been a little unskilled, a little flighty." Celtos paused, clearly choosing his next words. "She is a powerful magician, Master, but she lacks control."

"Celtos, what are you trying to tell me?"

The Elf's face twisted as though he had tasted something unpleasant. "That if Mirai tries to fight her way out, she may be hurt. Severely. She has too much power, not enough control. It is a dangerous combination."

"With any luck, it will not come to that."

The Elf glanced up at him again, and the darkness in his amber eyes turned Yami's heart cold. "Let us hope that it does not. If Mirai is not recovered, you will lose not one monster, but two."

Ice stabbed through Yami's gut, the air leaving his lungs in a heavy exhale. "And you?"

Celtos huffed out a short, bitter laugh. "I'm not the kind of Elf that can die of a broken heart. My life is eternal. I will survive without them. Not live, perhaps, but survive."

Yami straightened slightly. "I swear to you, Celtos, I will do everything in my power to see that Mirai is returned safely."

"Thank you, Master."

Yami nodded once, his eyes dark in the low light. "You are welcome. If you can think of anyone who may be able to aid us in our search, the Deck will be on my dresser. You are welcome to it at any time."

"I highly doubt my continued ability to summon my friends, Master, but thank you." Celtos somehow managed to bow while seated in bed.

Yami was just stepping back to close the door when something bumped into the backs of his legs, nearly sending him sprawling. "What the - "

"It's all right, Master. Silvis usually stays with me." Leaning over the edge of the bed, Celtos greeted the white wolf with a light scratch between the ears.

"As you wish. Goodnight, Celtos."

"Goodnight, Master."

Celtos watched silently as Silver Fang selected a comfortable spot in the corner to curl up, and continued starting somewhat blankly at the wolf until it began to snore faintly. The sound jolted him from his drifting reverie, and he was just retrieving his book when Damus' low voice startled him into dropping it.

"I thought of someone who can help."

"How long have you been awake?" Celtos demanded, rubbing his sore kneecap where the book had struck him.

"Since 'I'm not the kind of Elf who can die of a broken heart.' "

"Oh."

"If you were - "

"If I was, my feä would follow yours the instant it departed your body," Celtos answered, without hesitation. "I am yours, Damus, heart, mind, body, and soul."

"As I am yours," the mage responded, leaning up enough to kiss the Elf's lips.

"Who was it that you believe can help?" Celtos asked a moment later, his eyes narrowing in thought.

"My troublesome cousin, of course. He's unmatched at tracking a person's majic signature."

"You mean Cayenne?"

There was an immediate bang and a crash from downstairs, followed by a volley of shouted curses. Celtos dropped his head back against the headboard with a thud. "This is getting ridiculous."

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, love," chided Damus as he scrambled for his pants.

A moment later, Damus and Celtos were standing at the foot of the staircase, watching in badly concealed amusement as Cayenne, the Magician of Black Chaos, paced the length of the living room, still ranting at the top of his lungs.

" – dragging me out of bed because my incompetent cousin can't keep herself out of trouble for more than two hours on any given day - "

Lustire, sitting cross-legged on the sofa with a faintly amused expression, gave his head a minute shake; a silent 'oh, please.' Gaia was still fast asleep on the floor in front of the couch, having slept through both Cayenne's entrance and his nonstop ranting since then. Damus was watching the entire display with a bemused expression, one thumb hooked through a beltloop of his leather pants. Celtos, standing beside him in the previous day's jeans and a clean shirt, thrown on unbuttoned and only to hide the scarring on his back, was shaking his head in disbelief.

" – little twit doesn't have enough sense to fill a thimble, and I always seem to be the one to bail her out - "

"What is going on here?"

The thunderous voice from the top of the stairs caught all of their attention. Celtos and Damus spun around, Lustire glanced upwards, and Cayenne, still in midstep, tried to look and keep walking at the same time, and as a result fell headlong over Gaia. The overhead light snapped on just as he landed.

Lustire stifled a snort as Gaia blinked awake, looking beyond confused, and Cayenne's vocabulary threatened to start peeling the paint from the walls.

"Chaos Mage?" Yuugi, looking young and adorable in blue cotton pajamas, pattered down the staircase for a closer look. Yami followed close behind him, shirtless and dangerous in black silk.

The monster in question glanced up, kicked Gaia hard in the chest in an attempt to untangle himself, and finally managed to stand up. He was an intimidating sight; a little over six feet tall, with wide shoulders and glaring, bright-red eyes. He was wearing only a pair of loose, crimson pants that rode low on his slim hips. His pale blue-skinned form was powerfully muscled, and both his arms were tattooed. Slender, jet-black lightening bolts ran in a wild spiral, wrapping seven times around each arm and spanning from shoulder to wrist. Jet-black hair, silky-straight without the usual enchantments in it, fell like a cloak to his thighs. When he snarled back at his young master, fine needle-point fangs flashed in his mouth.

"Yes, Chaos! You should know, you summoned me!"

"Actually, Cayenne, that wasn't the Masters," Damus' calm voice interjected, and the blue-skinned mage whirled on him.

"What the Hell do you mean it wasn't them?! They're the only ones who could - "

"Celtos did it."

Cayenne stopped short, openmouthed, and stared at his cousin in utter disbelief. "Huh?"

The Elf stepped forward, his broad shoulders tense beneath his unbuttoned shirt. "I summoned you, Cayenne."

"That's not - "

"He summoned me, too," Gaia spoke up, still sprawled on the floor and nursing his bruising chest. "And Silvis." The wolf, sitting at the foot of the staircase beside Celtos, tilted his head to one side and gave a single, short bark.

Cayenne opened his mouth to object, but Lustire had evidently heard enough. Hooking one foot around Cayenne's left ankle, he used the other foot to kick the back of Cayenne's left knee, knocking the mage's leg out from under him and sending him sprawling backwards onto the couch. Then, the red-haired swordsman swung himself sideways, sitting heavily in the mage's lap.

Yami raised his eyebrows and Yuugi looked astonished; however, none of the monsters even reacted. Damus was pinching the bridge of his nose as though attempting to ward off a headache.

"Lustire, if you wouldn't mind putting him in a better mood before morning?"

The swordsman raised an eyebrow and cast a significant glance towards Gaia.

"I'll sleep with Mysti," the Knight said promptly, scrambling to his feet. A moment later, what he had said actually processed in his mind, and he blushed heavily. "Not sleep-with, sleep with, but sleep - "

"Oh, shut up!" Cayenne snarled from behind Lustire's shoulder, only to receive an elbow to the gut.

Looking rather lost, Yuugi glanced around to Damus and Celtos. "Is he always like this? And are you feeling better, Damus?"

"Unfortunately," Damus yawned, "yes. And somewhat, thank you. Cayenne is always cranky when his sleep is disturbed. Much like an infant…"

The reply from behind Lustire was caustic enough to leave Celtos rubbing his ears and Yuugi twelve shades of red; Damus, however, merely laughed. "Infantile or not," he continued, ignoring the snarl, "Cayenne is an unmatched tracker. He's much stronger than I - " the snarling finally ceased, "and he will be able to track Mirai over half the planet if necessary, provided…" he trailed off suddenly, his eyes darkening to an almost cobalt shade. Celtos immediately grasped his shoulder and squeezed it, almost harshly. Damus flinched slightly, but straightened again, his eyes clearing.

There was a moment of tense silence before Yami cleared his throat. "Well," he began, sounding distinctly awkward, "if we're going to find Mirai, we'd better get some rest."

"I agree," chirped Yuugi immediately, thankful for a break in the tension. "Things will be better in the morning. We can get an early start." They all knew there was no point in going out now – it was too easy to miss small details in the dark.

There was a low mutter of agreement among the monsters, even Cayenne, who gazed at them over Lustire's shoulder with his piercingly red eyes.

Gaia, still flushed with embarrassment from his earlier, unintentional, double entendre, tried to slip unnoticed up the staircase, only to run into a nightgown-clad Mysti halfway up and start blushing worse than ever. She smiled faintly and took the sheepish Knight's hand, silently leading him up the stairs. Damus and Celtos followed them, the mage clasping his lover's uninjured hand tightly, still struggling to keep an emotional storm at bay.

Yuugi stumbled, yawning, up the stairs with Silver Fang's nose against his back, not truly awake enough to get up on his own. Yami followed them all up the stairs, pausing in the hallway above to turn out the light. He only just saw Cayenne transfigure the sofa into a large bed before the darkness engulfed them.

**END NOTES**

Feä – a concept taken from Lord of the Rings. (Which I don't own) Tolkien's Elves are immortal, as I have always taken the Celtic Guardian to be. However, Tolkien's Elves, if left in a state of severe emotional turmoil or depression, will 'fade,' until their life force simply gives out. My guess is that all Elves, while related, are not the same, and that there are different subtypes. Celtos is aware of these other Elves, and their risk of fading, hence the reference.

Cayenne – yes, like the pepper. I figured it was appropriate enough. And don't worry, he's not going to be this insufferable the whole time. He just needs his beauty sleep. Hope you appreciate, blue leafy! Although I was planning on bringing Cayenne in from the start, I was debating whether to pair him with Lustire and have Gaia be straight, or vice versa. However, I think it's worked out for the best this way.

Ja ne!!

S.


	8. Findings

S: (walks in the door and stops short, staring)

(the story room is full of males, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru from _Inuyasha, _Hatake Kakashi from _Naruto, _both halves of Bakura, Father Able from _Trinity Blood, _and Youko Kurama from _Yu Yu Hakusho_)

S: ONYX!!!

Onyx: (peers out around Sesshomaru's shoulder) What, don't you appreciate the White-Haired Bishi Brigade?

(about six voices, in unison) SILVER!!!

Onyx: Of course. Silver.

S: (rubs her head in disbelief) Thanks for the eye candy, but I'm on a diet! And where's my disclaimer sign?

(everyone in the room points upward: the disclaimer sign is mounted on the wall over their heads)

Disclaimer Sign: Onyx and S disclaim ownership of any and all characters listed above. For further Disclaimer see chapter one.

S: ...right. Uhm, warnings for this chapter include **biting**, **scorn of homophobia**, and a completely out-of-the-blue character insertion. That should cover it. Please enjoy!

_**LIVES TO LIVE**_

Chapter Eight: Findings

Celtos blinked awake the next morning, only a few minutes past dawn. Turning his head slightly, he found Damus staring out the eastern window, watching the cold grey light spread across the sky. The mage was already dressed; clearly, he'd been up for some time.

"Ugh… Damus?"

"I didn't want to wake you," the mage said softly, not looking back. He was standing in his 'battle pose'; arms folded across his chest, his staff in one hand. It looked more than a little odd, given that he was in street clothes, but Celtos understood. Subconsciously, Damus was trying to turn this into just another battle, another simple duel. Yami never lost in dueling, and if Damus could put himself back in the position of just another monster, rather than a frantic brother, it would be easier to stay calm. Easier to believe they would win.

"You're not planning on carrying your staff today, are you?" Celtos mumbled around a jaw-cracking yawn, finally getting Damus to turn and look at him. The mage's eyes were tight with anxiety, and there were dark shadows beneath them.

"Actually, I am. I'll need it if we're going to do any serious battling."

Celtos grunted as he rolled out of bed – literally – and pulled himself to his feet. "You think it'll come to that?" he yawned, staggering to the dresser, where he had left his neatly folded clothes. "Wouldn't you have sensed if there were any dark forces that strong in the area?"

"I should be able to sense Mirai's majic signature, too," Damus reminded him as the Elf dragged on his jeans. "If I can't even do that much, there's no telling what else I missed."

"Ugh," Celtos replied intelligently, and pulled his shirt on, leaving it unbuttoned. Buttons were much to complicated for that hour of the morning. He did take time, however, to buckle the fine leather knife-holsters around his ankles and double-check the blades in them. By the time he was done, Damus was waiting by the open door, catching the smell of breakfast as it wafted up the stairs. Celtos slung an arm around the mage's shoulders, and somehow the pair of them navigated down the stairs without incident.

When they got into the kitchen, Yuugi was standing on a footstool in front of the stove, happily scrambling what looked like two dozen eggs in an enormous pan. Yami was sitting on the counter near him, attempting to drown himself in a coffee mug. The small, four-seater kitchen table was half-occupied; Gaia was sitting opposite the door, shoveling down eggs, while Amystria sat to his left, perched daintily on her chair and nibbling on toast. She was a vegetarian.

"Good morning, Masters," Damus greeted them with rather forced cheer. Celtos grunted incoherently and flopped into a chair to Gaia's right, managing to raise his hand in greeting before dropping his head on the tabletop.

"Not a morning person, Celtos?" Yuugi inquired mildly, chasing the eggs around the pan with a spatula. The Elf grunted, rocking his head side-to-side on the table as a negative response.

"I sympathize," Yami rumbled from the depths of his coffee mug. The spirit's eyes were still closed.

"Drink your coffee, Yami. It will wake you up," Yuugi chided, abandoning his eggs for a moment to pour a cup for Celtos. The Elf sat up long enough to taste the dark liquid, gagged slightly, and shoveled several spoons of sugar into it before continuing.

"Sorry, Celtos, I'm so used to doing it the way Yami likes it, he's the only one of us that ever drinks coffee."

"S'fine," Celtos mumbled, about two seconds from falling back asleep. He was distracted, briefly, when Cayenne and Lustire walked in from the living room. Both were still in their nightclothes, and looked more than a little rumpled.

"Good morning, you two. Oh, Lustire, you're bleeding!" Yuugi exclaimed in alarm, pointing to the swordsman's shoulder. Lustire blinked, then touched the material of his grey tee-shirt with his fingertips. When they came back damp with blood, he spun around and smacked Cayenne upside the back of the head.

"Hey! You weren't complaining last night!" came the indignant response.

Gaia promptly choked on his eggs. As his eating habits very closely resembled those of Joey and Tristan, though, perhaps it had only been a matter of time. Lustire blushed – which involved his unglamoured skin turning a darker shade of green – and smacked Cayenne upside the head again, somewhat harder this time.

"You draw _blood_?" Yuugi sounded rather alarmed by the thought.

Cayenne grinned at him, needle-point fangs flashing in the overhead light. "Can't hardly help it, with these teeth. Besides, he makes the nicest little moans…"

Lustire, by now a fetching shade of emerald, smacked Cayenne hard enough that the mages' eyes crossed. Gaia, having turned slightly green himself, mumbled some very flimsy excuse about training and fled the room. Lustire shook his head, accepting a cup of tea from Yuugi with a silent nod of thanks.

Celtos, at least half-awake by now, shot Cayenne a sour look. "You could try to be a little more considerate, you know. Gaia can only handle so much."

"Poor little straight boy!" Cayenne snapped, quite without sympathy, and snatched an apple from the bowl of fruit on the counter. "More than half the deck's in bed with their own gender, he needs to stop being such a prude." He took a large bite out of the apple and licked slowly at the juice that threatened to escape his mouth. Lustire promptly dropped his mug. Celtos caught it before it could hit the floor, passing it back to the soldier without even a blink.

"Regardless," Yami interjected calmly from his seat on the counter, "some things are best kept in the bedroom."

"Ah, well," Damus spoke up, claiming Gaia's vacated seat at the table, "on that note, Master, you may want to wear something with a high collar today."

"What?" The Pharaoh shot him a rather mystified glance, before catching sight of his reflection in the side of the toaster. "Aibou!!" There were a half-dozen hickies scattered across Yami's tan throat.

"Sorry, Yami," came the giggled response, not sounding sorry in the least.

"Aibou, you're supposed to be the innocent one!" Yami wailed in mock despair.

"I am innocent, compared to you! Where you left marks, nobody but you or a proctologist would see them!"

A wave of laughter went up at that; Yami blushed heavily, and the tension in the room eased somewhat. They all ate their breakfasts as quickly as possible, but most of them were still chewing when Seto and Mokuba walked in. Both of the Kaibas stared at Cayenne for a long moment, until the blue-skinned monster got annoyed and stuck his tongue out between his fangs. Mokuba jumped, and Seto arched an eyebrow.

"What are you supposed to be?"

"Dragon Master, Magician of Black Chaos. Cayenne, Kaiba." Damus performed the introductions, gesturing with his fork.

# o # o # o # o # o # o # o # o #

It took some thinking on the part of the mages to figure out exactly how they were going to conceal the weapons that the monsters carried. The end solution involved the two mages putting their staffs into small 'pocket dimensions,' which they could access at any given time. It was a little more complicated trying to hide Celtos' broadsword and Lustire's elaborate blade; in the end, it was a combination of several glamours that resulted in both men looking like they were wearing backpacks. In actuality, both had their swords strapped to their backs; the illusion would be dispelled as soon as the blades were drawn. No villain would be intimidated by some guy swinging a backpack around, after all.

Cayenne, instead of borrowing clothes, simply conjured his own. His taste in clothing was a little different than anyone else's, and the end result proved that. He ended up wearing black leather pants with a slight boot-cut, a leather buckle top similar to Yami's, save that it was blood red, an ankle-length black leather duster, and black leather boots. His skin, once he glamoured it, was very, very pale, but he left his eyes their natural shade of crimson. Combined with his jet-black and currently straight hair falling down his back, he looked more like a Hollywood vampire than anything else.

It took another fifteen minutes for the rest of the group to show up. Joey was the only one of them that would be going out with the monsters to search, but Tristan and Teá would be staying behind at the shop with Mokuba and the other monsters. The majority of the search party was grouped together in the kitchen, waiting with dwindling patience when Joey finally arrived.

"Never try to teach a dog to tell time," Seto muttered under his breath as Silvis, the Silver Fang wolf, trotted out the door with his nose on the ground. Celtos and Damus jogged out the door behind the wolf, while Yami, Yuugi, Lustire, and Cayenne followed.

"That's 'never try to teach a pig to sing,' bastard!" Joey snapped over his shoulder as he ran to catch up. Seto jogged beside him, unbothered, following the odd little parade back to the Domino Park.

# o # o # o # o # o # o # o # o #

Silvis lifted his head a few inches and sneezed.

"Helpful, very helpful," Damus muttered sourly, glaring at the shattered tree where his sister's card had been pinned the day before. Cayenne gave the tree an appraising look, then glanced back at Celtos. The Elf offered a sheepish shrug in return, and Cayenne rolled his eyes before sitting down cross-legged in the center of the clearing and setting his fingertips on his temples. The others watched silently as a blue-white glow pulsed from his temples, brighter than Damus' had been.

It only took a moment before the mage leapt to his feet, moving so fast that the motion itself was little more than a blur. "Got her," he announced, grinning wildly, and set off at a run.

A chorus of protests rose behind him before the others fell in line. Silvis loped alongside Cayenne, followed closely by Damus and Celtos. Lustire hung back a little, running with the humans. Seto and Joey had no problem keeping up, their long legs matching the monsters stride for stride, and Yami's lean form moved light and swift over the paved walkways. Yuugi, however, was clearly straining to keep the pace. Without ever breaking stride, Lustire caught Yuugi with one hand, dipped a knee down, and swung the boy easily onto his back in one smooth motion. Yuugi gave a startled little yelp, grabbing the monster's shoulders, but calmed down after a moment.

"Thanks, Lustire."

A short nod was his only response, and the group ran on. It didn't take long for the human members of the party to figure out exactly where they were going – the warehouse district, down on the docks. It was the 'bad' part of Domino, and a running favorite for the evil part of the dueling world. Joey shuddered a little, but kept pace. It would be some time before he forgot the fact that he and Yuugi had both nearly drowned on those docks as a result of Mariku's scheming.

"If this is all another one of his plots, that purple-shirted freak's gonna find his Millennium Rod stuffed up his ass," Joey mumbled. At that moment, Silvis let out an echoing howl and surged forward, flying over the ground before them. Cayenne let out a blistering curse and leapt after him, his long duster swirling behind him. The other monsters kept quiet, but all of them sped up, forcing the humans to a full sprint. The difference between a monsters' strength and stamina and that of a human were becoming very apparent.

By the time the group slowed to a walk, deep inside the warehouse district, Yami and Joey were panting, and even Seto was breathing a little hard. Lustire set Yuugi carefully on the ground, then silently reached back, settling one hand on the hilt of his sword. Silver Fang had his nose to the ground again, and Cayenne had his eyes closed, turning this way and that like a satellite dish. After a moment, both of them fixated on a single direction, and walked together towards the back of the district. The further they went, the older and shakier the buildings got, until at last they stopped before a warehouse that looked only seconds from toppling under its own weight.

"You must be joking."

Cayenne turned back to glare at Seto, curling his upper lip just enough to expose his fangs. "I don't joke." The CEO simply crossed his arms, tucking his hands inside the front of his pewter-colored trench coat and glaring straight back. Lustire stepped on Cayenne's foot and Joey elbowed Kaiba in the ribs, effectively breaking up the glaring match, while Silvis nosed at the heavy wooden door, growling softly.

"Enough, you two. This is no time to be immature," Yami was growling too, trying to keep his voice from carrying. Damus, meanwhile, shouldered past his cousin and began inspecting the door.

"Not locked," he whispered after a moment, getting everyone's attention. He gave the door a hesitant push and it rolled back slightly, showing off a fingers-breadth of the warehouse's dark interior. "Not even latched."

"Does that mean they're not expecting us, or they are?" Yuugi wanted to know, pressing close to his darker half. A sharp 'click' from behind him was enough to make the boy jump; turning around, he was astonished to find Seto holding a handgun and jacking a round into the chamber.

"Seto?"

"Nine-mil Berretta semi-automatic," Seto explained, thumbing the safety on. "It's loaded with Glazer Safety rounds; it should be enough to stop anything we need stopped."

"I didn't think you liked guns," Joey muttered, eyeing the gun a bit uneasily. Guns of any type weren't very common in Japan; although it wasn't the first time he'd seen one, they weren't his favorite thing in the world, either.

"I don't," Seto answered shortly, settling his finger securely on the trigger-guard and pointing the gun upwards, away from the others. "But I don't like being stupid, either."

"You, stupid. Yeah, that'll be the day." Joey tried to laugh, but the sound was too forced to be believable. Metal rasped as Lustire and Celtos drew their swords, and Damus and Cayenne both pulled their staffs into existence.

"Get behind us," Celtos ordered quietly. The four humans didn't question it, but drew back to either side of the doorway, each tucked in behind two monsters. Silvis drew back as well, tucked close to Celtos' legs. Damus, his staff held securely in one hand, pulled himself back behind the wall of the warehouse and gave the door one solid shove.

It rolled open surprisingly easily, squeaking only a little, spilling grey light into the murky inside of the building. Stacks of half-rotted wooden crates crafted eerie shapes and threw misshapen shadows onto the cracked concrete floor. The inside of the warehouse was not a single open space, but broken up at regular intervals by support beams, which vanished into the shadowy recesses of the ceiling like mutated tombstones. Here and there, a hole in the sagging roof admitted a beam of light, in which dust motes danced like miniature ghosts. Cautiously, the five monsters stepped inward, and the humans trailed them a moment later.

Standing just inside the door, still well behind the monsters, Joey gave a small, quavering moan. "I hate places like this."

On either side, Damus and Cayenne exchanged glances, then nods. Moving together, they tapped the butts of their staffs once, sharply, on the floor, and brilliant light bloomed at each of the staff's heads. The light didn't improve the warehouse much – if anything, it made the dust thicker, the grime nastier, and the shadows deeper, but at the very least they could see where they were going.

And they could also see the enormous black velvet curtain hanging from the ceiling rafters not twenty feet in front of them.

"What the heck -?" Joey shook his head and stepped away from Kaiba, walking up beside Celtos to stare. "Why is there a nice velvet curtain in a place like this?"

Just as he finished asking that, several things happened at once. Silvis let out a tremendous, snarling bark, Cayenne shouted "There's someone behind there!" and the curtains parted, pulled back and away by black velvet cords, to expose the person behind them.

A perfectly tailored black tuxedo, complete with a tail coat and a top hat, looked quite odd enough in this grim setting. But when you included the oddly garish black and white mask…

"You!" Yami shouted, and Yuugi grabbed his arm to keep him from moving.

"_Bastard_!" Damus shrieked, and lunged forward so fast that Celtos barely had time to seize him, pinning the mage's arms to his sides and getting thoroughly kicked in the shins because of it. "You miserable, worthless excuse for a magician! First you deface the cards of my cousins, dishonor them in battle, imprison and threaten my Master, and now you seek to steel my sister from me?!"

"Yes, me. Did you think that you had seen the last of me, O Mighty Pharaoh?" Arcana laughed as he stepped forward, completely ignoring the furious Dark Magician struggling to go for his throat.

"Yami, you know this… person?" Seto managed to make even the word 'person' sound like a slur, Yuugi realized, and tugged a little more sharply on Yami's arm. "Seto, this is Arcana. He's the one that Mariku had control of during your Battle City Tournament… the one that almost had his leg cut off?"

"I see." The gun in Seto's hand clicked slightly as he turned the safety off. "And what, exactly, is he doing here?"

"I am here to collect a debt that is owed to me!" Arcana informed them, although he was addressing only Yami. "When my price is repaid, your monster will be returned to you."

"Let me see her!" Yami snapped, gently tugging his arm free of Yuugi's hold. "When I am assured that she is safe, I will hear your demands."

"Far be it for me to refuse the order of a Pharaoh," Arcana replied, his mocking tone identical to the one Seto often took with Joey. Taking a step to the side, he swept a gracious bow towards the opening in the curtain and clapped his hands together. Immediately, a spotlight blinked on, shining down one of the innumerable support beams holding up the warehouse roof. However, this beam was a little bit different, because Mirai was bound to the bottom of it. Her hands were tied around the post behind her back, her ankles were tied together, and she was blindfolded and gagged, but she appeared unharmed. Judging by the expression on her face, she'd been calling Arcana every name in the book and then some, but there were no injuries on her pale skin, and aside from being tied up, she seemed perfectly fine.

"Mirai!" Damus cried out, relief echoing in his voice, and Mirai's head whipped towards his voice. Immediately, she began wriggling wildly, trying to get free of her bonds, and Celtos quickly told her to stay still, so that she didn't hurt herself.

"Does that please you, Pharaoh?" Arcana had glided closer in the few minutes they'd spent looking at Mirai. He was now standing close enough for Damus to kick him – Celtos' grasp was forcing the mage to show remarkable restraint, thus far – but Arcana was acting as though the monsters weren't even there. Even Seto's handgun, which had been leveled at Arcana's head since his first appearance, didn't seem to faze the man. Yuugi was beginning to wonder if Arcana was simply ignoring everyone except Yami, or if he really didn't see them at all. Carefully, Yuugi took a step back from his dark half, waiting for Arcana to react to the motion, but the man's eyes never moved from Yami. Yuugi stared at him for a moment, shrugged, and walked around behind Yami to the other side of the group to stand behind Damus and Celtos.

"It satisfies me. I will not be pleased until she is free," Yami answered. Arcana laughed, and the sound of it sent Yuugi's stomach running to hide. It wasn't a sound any sane person would make.

"Very well, then, my terms. If you wish your monster returned to you, you will return my beloved Cadeline to me!"

"What?" Yuugi and Damus practically shrieked the word, not that it made any difference; Arcana never even blinked.

"I don't understand," Yami said slowly. "How am I supposed to return her to you?"

"Because you have her, I know you do!" Arcana's voice was high, a little bit frantic. "Lord Malik stole her to control me, but after you defeated me, you defeated Lord Malik as well! Therefore, he must have surrendered all his prisoners to you, his conqueror! You have Cadeline; I know you do! And if you wish to regain your monster, you must return her to me!"

"I don't have her, Arcana. And Malik never did. You said yourself that she left you after the accident that damaged your face," Yami answered carefully, watching the man as though he might explode.

"It doesn't matter, Pharaoh, if you do not have her, you must find her!" Laughing, the so-called Master of Magicians flicked his wrist, causing a pristine white handkerchief to appear in his palm. When he whisked it away, a glittering, gold-hilted dagger was clenched in his hand.

Damus gave a furious hiss, struggling with greater force than ever against Celtos, fighting to reach Arcana with a kick, but Celtos had dragged him backwards far enough that he could not.

"Let go of me, Celtos!"

"You know I can't do that, Damus. You'd kill him, and I know you would eventually regret it."

"Either you return Cadeline to me," the golden dagger twinkled sharply in the reflection of the spotlight, "or I have no reason to keep your monster intact."

This time, it took the combined effort of Celtos, Cayenne, and Lustire to hold Damus back. Cayenne got Damus into a choke-hold and held it until Damus was on the verge of unconsciousness before he dared to release him.

"What if she doesn't wish to return?" Yami challenged, quietly, barely noticing as Seto plucked Cayenne's elbow, silently leading the magician outside the door of the warehouse.

"You have a magician, Pharaoh. Force his magic to rekindle the love she once had for me!"

"He's out of his mind," Celtos muttered, and Yuugi glanced up at him.

"Aside from the obvious, Celtos, why do you say that?"

"Because what he's asking is impossible. No magician can do that, not Damus, not Cayenne, not even their grandfather, the Dark Sage. There is no way for it to be done." Seeing Yuugi's bewildered expression, the Elf explained, his voice barely above a whisper. "Majik can do almost anything; fool the eyes, deceive the mind, trick the body. It can change a person's form, even restore the dead, but the one thing it can never do is fool the heart."

"Oh," Yuugi said, and looked back to Arcana. "So what do we do now?"

"You will not have your monster back until I am reunited with my love!" Arcana shrieked.

"I'll send you to wait for her in the afterlife!" Damus jerked suddenly against Celtos' grasp, struggling as violently as he could to free himself. Cayenne reappeared abruptly, catching hold of his cousin again before Damus could break free.

"_I will not be denied_!" Arcana's voice rose to a scream, and he was just turning away from them, back towards Mirai, when there was a sudden, dull 'thunk,' and Arcana slumped to the ground in an unconscious heap.

"Idiot," came Seto Kaiba's voice, emanating from the empty air above Arcana's collapsed form.

"Oo-kay… what just happened?"

"It's very simple, mutt. I had the Chaos Magician turn me invisible so that I could shut this moron up." There was an extremely significant pause, before he added, "Sometimes, Pharaoh, there is such a thing as a simple solution."

Yami just stood there, rendered entirely speechless. Celtos' ears flicked slightly, following the faint sound of Seto's footsteps through the curtain, back to Mirai's beam. There was a brief pause, and then the ropes holding Mirai fell away. The girl immediately tore off the blindfold and the gag, then gave a cry of relief and hurled herself into her brother's arms.

"Big brother, I'm so sorry! I promise that from now on I'll be good and do my practice every day and wear what you want me too and I'll never get mad at you again and - "

"Hush, hush," Damus murmured, hugging the girl to his chest. "Don't make promises you can't keep, little sister." Sobbing, the girl buried her face in his chest, clinging to his shirt with both hands and trembling with relief. Celtos, silent but clearly relieved, enfolded them both in his strong arms. He was trembling, too, but he made no sound as he held them both. Silvis danced around their legs, butting his head up against Mirai's thigh in a show of affection.

Once Mirai's sobs had settled to a few sniffs and the occasional hiccup, Damus gently detached her hands from his shirt and pushed the girl into Celtos' arms.

"Big brother?" Mirai sniffed after him, but he shook his head at her.

"Hush, Mirai. There's something I need to do." With carefully measured steps, the magician moved away from his sister, walking to where Arcana lay, still unconscious on the cracked cement floor. "You have hurt us for the last time," Damus whispered, his blue eyes narrowed into slivers of steel. "Let the shadows take your soul!"

At the last word, an explosion of blue-black flame engulfed Arcana's unconscious form. When they cleared, he was nowhere to be seen.

"What did you do to him?" Seto's disembodied voice demanded, now coming from behind Joey.

"I threw him into the Shadow Realm," Damus answered indifferently. "Master Yami can retrieve him if he wishes too."

"At the moment, my only wish is to get us all home," Yami answered, but added under his breath, "and perhaps a little more coffee."

"Come on, little one," Damus said, slinging an arm around Mirai's shoulders and taking Celtos' hand in his own. "Everyone's waiting to see you again." The three of them headed for the door, followed closely by Yami and Yuugi, but Joey promptly called them all back.

"Aren't you all forgettin' something?"

Brief glances were exchanged; shrugs and headshakes replied. "Such as?" Yami prompted, and Joey gave him a disbelieving look.

"Such as, getting' this invisibility spell offa Moneybags?"

There was a long and very embarrassed silence, broken only by Joey's muttering, "I don't like not bein' able to see – HEY!!" The blond boy suddenly leapt forward, clutching his rear end protectively with both hands and looking astonished. Spinning around, he addressed the seemingly empty air where he had been standing a moment ago. "You just grabbed my ass!"

"I did no such thing," Kaiba answered boredly, standing somewhere to the right of the point Joey was addressing.

Cayenne, however, was watching the 'empty air' with a rather speculative expression in his crimson eyes. "I can't take the invisibility off," he grumbled after a moment. "It has to wear off. He'll be visible again sometime this afternoon. Until then, shut the hell up and deal with it!"

"Cayenne!" Damus scolded, but the red-eyed mage shook his head.

"Yeah, I know," Cayenne groused. "But my advice is the same to you, Sir Cousin; shut up and deal with it!"

"Oh, well, that's jus' great," Joey grumbled. "Walk in front of me goin' home, Moneybags."

"As if you could tell, mutt."

"I'm warnin' you, Kaiba - "

"Oh, just go!" Cayenne bellowed.

# o # o # o # o # o # o # o # o # o

When the small party walked through the door of to Yuugi's kitchen nearly an hour later, everyone in the building came to their feet at once.

"Mirai!" several voices cried, and the young mage gave a squeak of embarrassment and hid behind her brother's shoulder. Mokuba, who had been playing chess against the Mystical Elf, looked around in confusion.

"Where's Seto?"

Another yelp from Joey confirmed several suspicions. "Behind Joey," Yami informed the boy, and went to get another cup of coffee.

"What is he talking about? There's nothing there!"

Damus glared at Cayenne over his sister's head. "This is your doing, your shoddy majic. You explain it."

"It was not shoddy majic!"

"QUIT GRABBIN' MY ASS!!!"

That effectively halted all conversation, particularly since Joey was standing quite alone in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room.

"Uh, Joey?" ventured Tristan. "There's nobody behind you."

"The heck there isn't," Joey grumbled, walking over to dislodge Gaia from the sofa. The Knight simply sighed and took a place on the loveseat instead.

"What shoddy majic? Where's my brother? And what's wrong with Joey's ass?"

"Language, Mokuba!" Seto snapped, and Mokuba spun a full circle looking for him before Cayenne decided to enlighten the boy.

"Your brother is invisible," he said flatly, shoving Gaia off the loveseat before flopping down and dragging Lustire into his lap.

"Invisible?"

"Invisible and perverted," Joey grumbled, as Celtos and Damus sat down next to him. Mirai settled herself on the sofa arm, leaning against her brother's shoulder.

"…Seto?" Mokuba asked hesitantly, staring around the room.

"I'm over here, Mokuba," came the reply, and Joey abruptly toppled off the couch.

"HEY! Why, I outta – "

"Let it go, dude," Tristan advised, eyeing the end of the couch warily. Celtos, on the other hand, seemed entirely unbothered sitting next to the invisible CEO.

"Just for the record, I have not been 'grabbing' Wheeler's ass." Seto sounded entirely too self-satisfied, and there was an expectant silence before he continued. "I've been _groping _it."

"Oh, that makes me feel so much better!" Joey shouted, sarcasm dripping from every word.

"So, how long until this wears off?" Mokuba asked, a desperate note in his voice.

"I don't know! I already said I don't know! Most likely some time this afternoon."

"But it's only ten o'clock!"

"Your problem, not mine."

"You wouldn't say that if it was your ass gettin' grabbed," Joey grumbled from the floor.

"Groped," corrected Seto.

"Isn't it really the same thing?" asked Teá, which silenced both of them.

It took about a half an hour after that to explain the details of Mirai's rescue, including Damus sending Arcana from the Shadow Realm.

"What I'd like to know is how he got out of the hospital in the first place," Mokuba spoke up. "He nearly had his leg chopped off, and I know for a fact that Seto had him committed to a mental institution."

"I'll have to have a word with the head of staff," Seto muttered, shifting and causing the couch cushion to wiggle.

"I'm guessing you just crossed your arms, Seto?" Mokuba asked.

There was a short pause before Kaiba sighed. "I suppose body language is ineffective when you're invisible."

"No, ya think?!"

# o # o # o # o # o # o # o # o # o

S: Wow, that was long! Over 5,000 words, even if you ignore the author's notes and my usual drivel in the beginning. Does anyone ever actually read that, anyway? I'd be interested to know. In any case, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and New Years. Tune in next chapter to see more of Seto's fascination with Joey's ass, new levels of nefariousness from everyone's favorite Chaos Magician, and – dum dum dum! …..

Well, you'll just have to click and find out. I'll have it posted as soon as I can! Love you all! Remember, Reviewing is fast, easy, and free, but it makes authors the happiest people in the world.


	9. Explanations

S: (is walking down the hallway, arguing with Cayenne) Dorky? What are you, in junior high?

Cayenne: Yes, 'Onyx and S' was dorky. And how would you know about junior high? It's been years! (snickers)

S: (glares) Not _that_ many years. (opens the door to the story room and steps in, still glaring at Cayenne, only to fall headlong over Sakata Gintoki of _Gin Tama_, who is sound asleep in the doorway) ONYX!!!!

Onyx: (is standing next to Sesshomaru, laughing, while the Silver-Haired Bishi brigade stares; everyone from the previous chapter is back, along with the additions of Bengali from _Thundercats_, Wonrei from _Zatch Bell,_ and, of course, Gin.)

S: (takes the hands that Bengali and Wonrei offer her and pulls herself to her feet) Thank you. Onyx…

Onyx: (grins) Don't you like the new name, Hikari? Cayenne?

Cayenne: ObsidianJade, huh? Much better.

S: (sighs and points at the Disclaimer Sign) Onyx and S/ObsidianJade disclaim any and all ownership of the characters listed above. For further disclaimer, see chapter one.

**WARNINGS**for this chapter include ass-groping, fluff, language, some OOCness, lousy dialogue in first section, and Cayenne.

Cayenne: What?

S: Nothing, I was just stating the warnings.

Cayenne: I'm a warning?

Everyone in the room: YES!!!!

Cayenne: (grins)

**DEDICATION**: To Masaka1, because I added a special scene for you. You'll know it when you see it. (grin)

Additionally: See my endnotes: I'm running a **Reader Contest**! Prize is a free request one-shot. Really simple, too – all you have to do is read the story!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

_**LIVES TO LIVE**_

Chapter Nine: Explanations

By three that afternoon, Joey was mightily pissed off.

Seto had occupied his time while invisible by playing chess against Damus, (losing twice, winning twice) working on the Duel Disk problem, (although making no real progress) and harassing Joey. The emphasis there being on 'ass.'

Cayenne, draped over the sofa with his head in Lustire's lap and a book in his hands, lifted his crimson gaze as Joey yelped yet again, spinning around and falling back onto the loveseat. One slender, jet-black eyebrow raised, one pale-blue finger gave a nonchalant, barely noticeable flick, and quite suddenly a very visible Seto Kaiba was bent forward over Joey, nose-to-nose with the blond. Joey's amber eyes widened slightly, but he said nothing, even as Seto leaned further into him, ice-blue staring into amber-gold.

And then Kaiba saw his reflection in Joey's eyes. Going white, he jerked upright and spun away, vanishing through the kitchen door with a swirl of his trench coat, leaving a very shell-shocked Joey behind.

"Come on, Mokuba, we're leaving," Seto's deep voice echoed through from the kitchen.

"But big brother - "

"_Now_, Mokuba!"

Sitting under the window against the far wall, shoulder-to-shoulder with Damus as they read the Ancient Spellbook spread across both their thighs, Celtos glanced up, his ears twitching. Amidst the general chaos of voices, Seto's shaken whisper of 'What was I thinking?' was almost lost. Celtos, however, heard it loud and clear.

The slamming of the front door seemed to shake Joey from his daze. "Wha'… what just happened?" the blond mumbled, shaking his head. "I look him in the eye and he takes off? What the hell kind of coward is he?"

"Your kind?"

"Eh?" Glancing towards the Elf, Joey shook his head slightly, as though trying to clear it. "What're you talkin' about, Celtos?"

Rising to his feet and pulling Damus up with him, the Elf offered Joey a careful smile. "You like him, don't you?"

"No! I'm not a freakin' masochist! All he'd ever want to do is treat me like a dog, and I got enough 'a that at Devlin's!" At Celtos' questioning glance, Joey shook his head. "I keep forgettin' you weren't around for all this… I lost a duel against Duke Devlin, y'know, dice boy? And he put me in a dog suit."

"I remember that," Damus piped up. "It was… awkward. I wasn't so fond of the dice."

"That was you? How does that work? You can't be in Yami's deck and the dice all at once, can ya?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. I think it's just that my spirit is bound to Master Yami…"

"Back to the point. I apologize if I hit a nerve concerning Kaiba," Celtos said mildly, "but it does occur to me that you've put a bit of thought into this, if you've already considered how he would treat you in a relationship."

"I ain't… I'm not… Shit. I need to go clear my head," Joey muttered, pushing off the loveseat. Shaking his head, he slowly followed Kaiba's path out. When the door shut behind him, Damus marched over to his cousin and jabbed a finger at his face.

"You – you infernal pain in the ass, you had no right to do that! You kept Seto invisible until just the _wrong_ moment! If you're going to keep him invisible half the day, at least wait until the opportune moment - "

"That _was_ the opportune moment," Cayenne interrupted calmly, his nose buried in his book.

"And how do you figure that?"

"The expression in a person's eyes when they're getting ready to kiss you is unguarded, that's why." Turning a page, Cayenne peered at his cousin, who was standing, mouth agape, in utter disbelief. "What do you see when Celtos is about to kiss you, moron?"

"That he loves me," Damus answered automatically.

"He's not a moron!" Celtos added, just as automatically, and Cayenne waved him off.

"I don't believe this," Damus muttered. "You're doing it again! I thought you said you were going to stop!"

"I never said that."

Celtos and Damus exchanged looks, disbelief morphing into wide grins. Throwing their arms over one another's shoulders, they began to sing cheerfully, "_Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match, find me a find, catch me a catch - "_

"OUT!" roared Cayenne, and the two fled the room, laughing the whole while.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Joey returned a couple of hours later, his sneakers dusty and a few bits of leaf stuck in his hair. He'd been in the park, Celtos realized, recognizing the scent of the grass that clung to the boy. Why he'd seen fit to take a nap in a leaf pile, the Elf had no idea, but he didn't bother to ask.

"Come to any conclusions?" he asked quietly, as the boy joined him and Damus on the couch.

"Yeah, that Kaiba's a freakin' lunatic."

"I meant any helpful conclusions."

"Not really. I mean, it would be one thing if I really knew that he liked me, but I think he just gets off on havin' someone around to insult." Joey's voice was hesitant.

Celtos and Damus both snorted, and Joey threw them an offended look. "What?!"

"Joey, being called a puppy is only as much of an insult as you make it," Celtos answered, shaking his head a little.

"Eh? How'd ya figure that?"

"A puppy is something that almost everyone adores. Something sweet and innocent and completely endearing."

"So, what? Moneybags thinks I'm cute and helpless?"

"Conversely," Celtos continued, as though Joey hadn't spoken, "puppies mature into dogs, something that is strong, loyal, protective, and potentially dangerous."

Joey sat silent for a moment, digesting this, before speaking again. "So… what, is he saying… that he just doesn't think I've reached my potential yet?"

A narrow grin flickered over the Elf's elegant features. "Exactly."

"That ain't a whole lot of reassurance, Celtos."

"Fine, then," Celtos sighed. "Then how's this? Every time he looks at you, his eyes dilate, and his pulse, body temperature, and breathing spike; all classic signs of arousal."

That earned him an openmouthed stare. "_How_ do you know all that?"

"I'm an Elf."

"And...?"

Damus, who had been silent this whole time, gave a soft chuckle. "All of an Elf's senses are more acute than those of a human. Their hearing and sense of smell are almost as keen as that of a canine, and their eyesight is twice as sharp as ours."

"Oh." Joey mulled over that for a moment, then, "So, you can tell when anyone's getting'… excited?"

"Yes. Makes a handy lie detector, too," Celtos added thoughtfully, falling silent as the rest of the monsters, and Yami and Yuugi, filtered into the living room with bowls of popcorn and sodas in hand.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The chime on Yami's watch dragged Yami half-out of his blissfully unconscious state. He and his Hikari were sprawled out in Yuugi's favorite bean-bag chair, next to the coffee table. The television was still on, but someone had muted it, leaving the rubbery, black-and-white monster rampaging silently through the cardboard city. A glance at the windows showed only darkness outside; angling his head, Yami could read the luminous face of his light's watch. Eleven o'clock! The last time he'd checked it, it had only been eight-thirty. A glance around the living room showed that Joey, Mysti, and Gaia were gone, and his sleep-fogged memory vaguely supplied that Joey had gone home just as Yami was dozing off, and Gaia and Mysti had gone up to bed some time earlier. The remaining monsters were still in the living room; sound asleep on the couch and loveseat, or, in Kuriboh and Silvis' case, the floor.

They all looked comfortable enough that Yami dismissed the thought of waking them, remoted the television off and turned his attention instead to the sleeping angel in his arms. Yuugi's face was still as smooth and round as a child's; it seemed the passing of the years seemed to make no difference to his appearance. Gently stroking the boy's silken cheek, Yami bowed his head briefly, once again thanking every god he knew that he could spend his days and nights beside Yuugi. Keeping a hand on the boy to steady him, Yami scooted carefully out of the beanbag and stood up, gathering the young duelist in his arms. Cradling the boy close to his chest, he carried him easily up the stairs to their shared room and settled him among the cool sheets. Both of them had changed into their pajamas before the movies started, and now, they had only to go to sleep.

Except that Yami couldn't. His accidental nap had left him wide-awake and alert, and after an hour of squirming around and counting sheep, ceiling tiles, and Kuriboh Brothers, he finally rolled out of bed so his constant thrashing wouldn't wake Yuugi. He paced on silent feet down the upstairs hall, peering into the open door of the guest room, where Gaia and Mysti were asleep in their separate beds, but turned towards one another as though the space between them did not exist. Smiling faintly, Yami left them and walked down the stairs to the living room, instinctively avoiding the squeaky spots in the steps.

He was mulling over herbal tea or warm milk when two pale lights gleamed out of the darkness, startling the Pharaoh enough that he jumped backwards. There was the faint, metallic 'click' of a lamp being turned on, and Yami found Celtos regarding him with a steady gaze. The Elf's amber eyes had caught the faint light coming from the kitchen and reflected it back, catlike. Yami absentmindedly added this to his mental 'Interesting Things About Elves' list, and nodded at the swordsman.

"Can't sleep?" Yami asked quietly.

"No. But I don't want to disturb them," Celtos murmured back, nodding at Damus and Mirai. The elder magician was curled up, catlike, on end cushion of the couch, his head pillowed in the Elf's lap. Mirai was sitting up on Celtos' other side, her side tucked up against his arm and her head resting on his shoulder. Both magicians were sound asleep.

Yami smiled a little, cheered by the quiet scene. "You must be very happy to have them back."

Celtos did not question the plural; while Mirai was missing, Damus might well have been a different person. "You have no idea," the Elf chuckled. "No question that their family has it's share of problems; insane cousins, a senile grandfather, more magical blowups in a year than I can count – but they're my family, too. Losing them would have destroyed me."

"I know how you feel," Yami answered, dragging the bean-bag chair over and sitting down, facing Celtos. I love Yuugi just as much, even though I don't show it sometimes. At least," he added ruefully, rubbing his hickey-covered throat, "not in the ways I'd like. It's hard to find the words to tell him, though."

"Especially if that's not what you're used to," Celtos nodded sagely, glancing to the side. "But you might be surprised just how easily it can happen."

Yami followed his gaze to the loveseat, where Lustire and Cayenne were both asleep, so entwined together it was hard to tell which limbs belonged to whom. Cayenne's face was tucked in the hollow of Lustire's throat, and the soldier was resting his cheek possessively on the mage's ebony hair. Both of them looked surprisingly innocent in sleep.

"That's the only time you ever see Cayenne so calm," Celtos remarked, seeming to read Yami's mind. "It makes a pleasant change."

Yami smiled back at the Elf, but a wisp of sadness lingered in his eyes. "I wish it were easier to find words," he whispered, his mind straying back to the boy he'd left sleeping upstairs.

Cayenne's earlier words nudged the edge of Celt's memory. "Look at his eyes just before you kiss him, when his expression is unguarded. Look into his eyes, and speak from your heart."

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

The clang of metal on metal reverberated across the roof of the Game Shop. Behind its high, arched facade, the roof was actually flat, and it made an ideal place for the monsters to get a little training in. Right now, Damus and Celtos were standing in the middle of the roof, while Gaia, Lustire, Cayenne, Mirai, Mysti and Joey were arrayed along the edges. Yami and Yuugi had watched the first few minutes of their practice, but excused themselves some time ago, although neither of them specified why. The spellcasters were meditating; Cayenne and Mirai calling balls of glowing light into their cupped palms; Mysti was calling a field of energy around her entire body. Gaia and Lustire were silently moving through martial arts stances.

Damus, stripped down to only a pair of light sweatpants, was bent at the waist, trying to catch his breath. His bare chest and face were dripping sweat, despite the heavily overcast sky and the slightly chill wind. Swiping his tightly braided hair back over one shoulder, he held up one hand in a 'hold on' signal and began examining his staff. Celtos, wearing his own tan cargo-style pants and a dark green tank top, his hair loosely ponytailed at the nape of his neck, nodded slightly, planting the point of his sword against the roof and leaning against the hilt. He and Damus were frequent partners for battle training, and they had a good system worked out. Damus would use defensive spells and act as a target, before they switched, and Celtos was put through his paces trying to dodge or deflect a variety of minor spells. Usually, Damus could easily defend against all but Celt's strongest attacks, but so far, more than half of his spells had failed, and he'd wound up blocking with his staff at the last moment.

"I don't understand this!" Damus snapped, exasperated, and wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. "Defensive spells haven't been this difficult for me since I was twelve! And my staff is scratched!"

"Scratched?" Celtos echoed in surprise, sheathing his sword and walking over. "I thought you'd enchanted it to be indestructible?"

"I did! It's as though my majik lost its potency the moment we entered this world. And it's been getting worse and worse the longer we stay here!"

"Well, I'm certainly not going to continue our practice with you like this. It's too great of a risk," Celtos declared firmly, then, glancing over Damus' shoulder, "Mirai, focus!"

Damus turned around in time to see Mirai's majik-orb fluctuate wildly. Acting instinctively, he went to throw up a shield around the unstable ball of majik – and nothing happened! Alarmed, Gaia, Lustire, and Joey scrambled away. "_Cayenne_!" Damus shouted, and the blue-skinned mage snapped out of his meditative trance, getting a shield up around Mirai's deteriorating orb a split-second before it exploded.

The brilliant burst of light left everyone momentarily flash-blinded, but Cayenne lit into Mirai before his eyes had even cleared. "What in the Hell were you thinking, putting that much power into a mediation orb when you can't control it? Do you honestly have such lousy control that you can't even keep that stable? You could have killed us, you idiot! You - "

"Cayenne, that's enough," Damus said sharply, seeing his sister's eyes beginning to well up. "Mirai, explain."

"Uhm, well, you see, I was kind of… distracted, by what you and Celtos… uhm, were… talking about…"

"My majik, you mean?" Damus' tone was drifting towards 'annoyed.'

A significant blush presented itself on Mirai's features, spreading itself from the roots of her hair down to the neckline of her shirt. Considering the shirt was one she had borrowed from Mai, it was a heck of a blush. "Um, yeah, you know, 'cause, your majik… is interesting," she managed, not sounding remotely convincing.

"Mirai, you wouldn't by any chance have something to do with Damus' majik malfunctioning, _would you_?" Celtos questioned, his own tone just short of threatening.

"Uhm… Well, I was maybe-kinda-sorta theoretically looking in big brother's Ancient Spellbook, and maybe-kinda-sorta theoretically found these really nifty spells…"

"Oh, _please_ tell me you were _not_ reading from the thirty-fourth chapter!" Damus groaned.

Mirai winced and looked at her brother through one half-open eye. "…yeah."

"What's in the thirty-fourth chapter?" Joey wanted to know, cautiously moving back from the door with Lustire and Gaia.

"Sexual majik!" Damus answered, tone fast moving from 'annoyed' to 'severely pissed.' "Aside from the fact that you shouldn't even be _reading_ the Ancient Spellbook without my permission _- _," Mirai flinched, "exactly what you were doing in the Sex Majik chapter I do not want to contemplate! And if that had anything to do with the purple hippopotamus - "

Mirai winced again, a little harder this time, and Celtos slapped himself in the forehead. "Mirai, I hope your boyfriend can take care of himself!"

"What does the purple hippopotamus have to do with Faaro?" Gaia questioned, looking bewildered, then clapped a hand over his mouth in alarm. "Shit."

Damus turned a disbelieving stare to his sister. "You're sleeping with the Flame Swordsman?"

"Wha – aat?"

Lustire clamped a hand over Joey's mouth, Celtos burst out laughing, and Cayenne gave a high-pitched, slightly hysterical giggle that earned him several odd looks.

"The hippo is because inexperienced mages wind up summoning… questionable animals when they're engaged in, ah… distracting activities," Celtos explained haltingly, blushing all the while. "The fact that it was bright purple probably should have tipped us off, but neither Damus nor I considered that Mirai would be in a relationship _behind our backs_…"

"Guilt-trip much?" Cayenne grinned, and got two dirty looks in reply.

"We can discuss conjugal relationships with Pyro monsters later," Damus said, ignoring Joey's near faint, and Mirai gave him the most miserable look she could manage. "Right now, we need to address the issue of my powers not working." So saying, he reached forward into seemingly empty air, an expression of concentration on his face, and his hand vanished to the wrist. Pulling his arm back, his hand reappeared, holding the spine of a thick book. Which, about halfway out, seemed to get stuck… in thin air. Gritting his teeth, Damus seized the book with both hands, tugging on it, but to no avail. Cayenne seemed to find this absolutely hilarious, and was forced to sit down on the rooftop, rocking back and forth with the force of his laughter. Gaia and Joey were chuckling softly, and even Lustire was clearly struggling not to laugh.

"I'm glad you all find this so amusing," Damus seethed, bracing one foot against seemingly thin air and yanking. The book, however, remained stubbornly where it was - until Celtos reached over Damus' shoulder, intending to help pull. The instant his fingertips touched the book, it popped free, sending Damus flying backwards, knocking himself and Celtos flat on their backs, and sending Cayenne flat on his back as well – with laughter. Damus spared his cousin another dirty look and flipped the book open. "Page?"

"One thousand, six hundred and ninety-two."

"At least you remember. And here I was wasting my time looking for porthole spells…" Damus sighed heavily, flipping to the appropriate page. He scanned it briefly, then snorted. "No wonder I'm having trouble! 'Transferal and Enhancement of Magical Abilities through Intimate Contact.' You've been siphoning my majik into Celtos and increasing it tenfold!"

"Well, that explains why he can summon, at least," came Yami's voice, causing almost everyone on the rooftop to jump. Yami and Yuugi were standing just in front of the walk-up, and Seto Kaiba was standing behind them, glowering at the entire group.

"Hey, pervert!" Joey shouted cheerfully. "Come to get some more of my ass?"

Kaiba didn't answer, just gave Joey a glare that fell somewhere between disbelief, fury, and alarm. Yuugi, smiling, stepped in to help,

"Kaiba has some good news for you, everyone. He thinks he's only a day or two away from a solution with the Duel Disks! We'll be able to participate in the Tournament!"

"That is excellent news," Damus answered after a moment of surprised silence, still flipping to the index of the Spellbook. "Isn't that much quicker than you'd expected?"

"Yes," Kaiba answered, a faint smirk reasserting itself on his face, "but I had some unexpected help."

"Eh? Who'zat, Moneybags?"

Kaiba might have ignored Joey, but the expectant gazes on him dragged the answer out nonetheless. "Saggi."

"_Saggi_?" came a half-dozen incredulous echoes.

"How in the name of Horus did you convince him to help you?" Cayenne demanded. "That miserable clown is harder to manage than _I _am!"

"How, exactly, can Saggi be helpin' you? He's not a machine monster, I can't see that he's got any kinda technical skills," Joey piped up, at the forefront again.

Kaiba grimaced slightly, but forced out an answer anyway. "I needed a guinea pig. Saggi is useful because he can tell me when I've established a porthole to the… monster realm."

Yami and Yuugi exchanged grins. To hear Seto, who, even now, stoutly refused to believe in 'that hocus-pocus past-life Egyptian crap,' saying that he was working to establish a porthole to an alternate dimension was entertaining, to say the least. Seto looked like saying it made his teeth ache.

"And you've made progress?" Celtos asked carefully.

"I've established a porthole, yes, but it's not large or stable enough to use yet. Unless you'd like to risk ending up in Peguasus' deck - " a collective shudder ran through the group – "it will take a while longer to get the calculations I need."

"We can wait," Cayenne answered instantly. "But again, how did you get that…_clown_ to help you?" The tone of 'clown' might have been better suited to terms like 'raw sewage' or 'slug slime,' but Kaiba ignored it and answered.

"Fairly simple. I just threatened to increase his attack points."

"How is that a threat? I'd think he'd be delighted," Gaia muttered, just loudly enough for Kaiba to overhear.

"I had a Crush Card in my other hand."

"Oh, spirits, you didn't infect him, did you?" Celtos groaned.

Perplexed, Kaiba shook his head. "No, why?"

"Because Dark-Element monsters are terrible babies when they're sick," the Elf answered, ignoring Cayenne's angry hiss. "The last time Damus caught a cold, he stayed in bed for a week, moaning."

"And if you think that's bad," Gaia grimaced, making sure he was behind Lustire and well out of strike range, "you should hear Cayenne. He spends his sickdays ranting at the top of his lungs that the universe and every god in it has a vendetta against him, and then Lustire has to come in and shut him up."

That earned Gaia a few odd looks. "How could you know that? Your rooms are on a different floor than his."

The Knight rolled his eyes at Damus, sighing. "Yes, the floor below. _Directly_ below, as a matter of fact. And while the walls in the mansion may be soundproofed, the floors and ceilings aren't." By this point, Gaia was looking mildly ill.

Lustire promptly blushed a brilliant shade of emerald, and Cayenne let out a delighted cackle. "Bet you'd never have pegged Lustire as a screamer," he snickered, and Gaia's dark-grey face went slightly ashen.

"No," he answered miserably, "and your _language_, Cayenne…"

"At least I don't laugh like a rabid hyena when I'm drunk," Cayenne shot back, still grinning.

Gaia threw his hands up in exasperation. "One time, ONE TIME, you mix ale and Elven wine, and they never let you forget it!"

"In my defense," Celtos said mildly, "I did warn you it was potent."

"I do not laugh like a rabid hyena. And I wasn't _that_ drunk," Gaia snapped.

Damus rolled his eyes skyward as though praying for assistance. "Gaia, you were that drunk. You hit on Lustire."

"He was wearing his robes; I thought he was a girl! Besides, I'm partially color-blind, I thought his hair was blon - " Gaia abruptly cut himself off, blushing until his cheeks were the color of charcoal. "Never mind," he mumbled, casting a sidelong glance at Mysti. Although she had finally come out of her mediation trance, she appeared not to have heard.

"That still doesn't explain – wait, color blind?"

"_Yes,"_ Gaia answered, exasperated, and Cayenne snickered in the background.

"No wonder he clashes with his horse!"

There was a moment of dead silence before everyone on the roof, save Cayenne, Kaiba, and Gaia, burst into laughter. Even Lustire chuckled, a deep rumble of sound.

"What?" Bewildered, Cayenne glowered at everyone until Joey finally laughed out an explanation.

"Cayenne, you are _so gay_! 'He clashes with his horse'?"

"He does!" Cayenne answered, defensively. "Hell, the horse clashes with itself! Purple and yellow?"

"This comin' from you, who dresses like a sadomasochistic pervert. Wait, what am I sayin'…"

"I AM a sadomasochistic pervert!" Cayenne countered with a fang-baring grin. Lustire smacked him soundly upside the head, and Cayenne laughed harder, jerking the soldier to him and planting a violent kiss on his lips.

"Gaia," said Damus, as the two parted, Lustire with a lip bleeding from Cayenne's fangs, "I promise you I will soundproof every floor and ceiling in the mansion as soon as we get back."

"That," answered the nauseated Knight, "would be greatly appreciated."

"Oy, Gaia," Celtos said sharply, glancing up from the index pages he was reading over Damus' shoulder, "why didn't you try just banging on the ceiling?"

"And try to stop those two?" Gaia answered scornfully, gesturing to the again-liplocked Cayenne and Lustire. "You're kidding, right? Why do you think I spend so many nights sleeping in the stables?"

Damus quirked an eyebrow towards the Knight, and Celtos frowned. "At the time," the Elf answered, "I thought you had elected to sleep with Zephyr voluntarily Not that you'd been chased out of your room by a pair of sex-crazed _maniacs,"_ Celtos answered pointedly.

Cayenne equally pointedly flipped him off, never breaking contact with Lustire.

"No, thank you," Celtos replied seriously, and turned back to Gaia. "You really need to stop being such a doormat, Gaia."

"Easy for you to say! You're sleeping with the Head of the Deck! The others have to listen to him, and, by association, you!"

"It's not like that," Celtos began, but he was cut off as the overcast sky abruptly decided to unload its contents on the city. With a mingled chorus of yelps, curses, and laughter, the group scrambled for the door. It took a few moments to get everyone inside, and, as a result, the majority of them got thoroughly drenched. Kaiba, having been closest to the walkup and therefore currently driest, bid a curt farewell to Yami and Yuugi and deserted the premises as fast as he could reach the door. If he saw Joey behind him, dripping wet, hurt, and bewildered, he gave no indication.

Clustered on the landing, the monsters milled around for a few moments before Cayenne, who, having been farthest from the door, was wettest, announced flatly that he was going to take a hot shower and headed down the hall for the bathroom, dragging Lustire with him.

Gaia, meeting Celtos' eyes over and between the heads of the others, sighed slightly, took a deep breath, and shouted after the mage, "And incidentally, Cayenne, I'm only colorblind to red and green – I can see my horse just fine!!"

Looking equal parts proud and terrified, the Knight bolted for the guest room, while Amystria followed at a slightly more sedate pace. Mirai, head ducked and looking sheepish, scuttled off to the guest room behind them, intending to work on less hazardous forms of meditation under the half-Elf's guidance. Yami and Yuugi, relatively dry, excused themselves to resume whatever… activities Kaiba had interrupted. From the disturbed state of their clothing, it wasn't that hard to guess. Joey, still staring blankly down the stairs, gave his head a slow shake as he pulled himself out of his daze.

"I don't get it," the blond mumbled, walking past Damus, down the stairs, and finally throwing himself on the living room couch. The mage followed him down, slowly, his nose still buried in the index of the book, searching for a counter spell. Celtos, having stopped at the linen closet long enough to retrieve towels for the three of them, dropped one over Damus' shoulders as he passed him and another on Joey's head before going into the kitchen. Shortly, the soft clatter of dishes being moved and the sound of water running drifted out to them, accompanied by Celtos' low humming as he searched for the dish soap.

Carefully coming down the final step into the living room, Damus considered the couch for a moment – Joey was sprawled across almost the entire length of it – before sitting on the floor with his back against the coffee table.

"What is it that you don't understand?" Damus asked calmly, looking up at the boy. Joey, rubbing his head vigorously with the towel, gave a somewhat muffled response.

"Sorry?"

More rubbing with the towel, another incomprehensible mumble.

"I can't understand you with a towel over your head."

There was a frustrated growl and the towel was finally hurled aside, nearly knocking over the table lamp in the course of its flight. "I said Kaiba!" Joey snapped, his hair standing up in a manner that nearly rivaled Yuugi's. "Ya happy? I'm obsessed with the man that makes puppy cracks about me! I'm fallin' in love with a guy that treats me like crap! He spends the whole mornin' gropin' me, he tries to _kiss _me, but as soon as I look him in the eye, he goes flyin' out the door! He think he's too good to be seen with me, is that it? Seto Ice-Blood Kaiba, too good for anybody but himself!"

Out of breath, Joey had to stop for a moment, and Damus quickly pounced on the opportunity. "What did you see in his eyes?"

A faintly glazed look was his only answer, and Damus quickly elaborated. "When he was about to kiss you, earlier. What did you see in his eyes when he was so close to you?"

There was a significant pause. "Everythin'. But I don't believe a bit of it."

Damus was considering his response when Celtos' aimless humming gave way to an actual song. Both he and Joey stilled as the low notes drifted out to them, the song wrapping itself around their minds and bodies. The words were in a language that Joey couldn't begin to understand, but the sheer power of emotion behind the song was incredible; a sense of awesome tragedy, an equal sense of undying hope.

"What - " Joey began to whisper, but was quickly shushed by Damus.

"We are being given a gift," the mage whispered back, barely loud enough to hear. "Even I rarely hear him sing." Smiling faintly, the mage leaned back against the table, his eyes drifting closed and an expression of deep reminiscence coming over his face.

On the landing of the stairs above them, a whisper of movement caught Joey's attention. Turning, he found Cayenne and Lustire there, both still wet and towel-clad, listening intently to the song. Lustire had his eyes closed, his face entirely relaxed, as if everything but the song had ceased to exist. Cayenne's eyes were closed, too, but his face looked… pained, as though the song brought back memories of anguish that had never quite healed.

Slowly, silently, the rest of the house's occupants drifted out onto the landing as well. Amystria, face peaceful and calm; Gaia, an expression of mild bewilderment over admiration, a man seeing easy use of a skill he could never hope to gain; Mirai, beaming with delight, for, as Damus had said, despite their closeness to the Elf, they rarely heard him sing. Yami and Yuugi listened with sheer wonderment in their eyes, as though they gazed for the first time upon one of the worlds' great marvels.

All the while Celtos continued to sing, unknowing and unbothered by his audience, as the song moved out of tragedy and despair and further into hope, and something that sounded like joy. When Damus, still reclining against the table, lifted his own voice to match the Elf's, it wasn't the intrusion into the song that it should have been, but rather, the filling of a space they hadn't realized was there. Together, their two voices made the song even more incredible; when the song soared to its conclusion, it filled those listening with a sense of transcendent joy.

The last note faded into a slow silence, none willing to disturb the echoes dancing in their memories, until Celtos peeked out of the kitchen door, blushing and sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

"Didn't realize I'd attract an audience," he mumbled, but Damus stood up and beckoned the Elf forward before he could escape back into the kitchen.

"Celtos, I…" Damus closed his eyes briefly when his voice choked, then, very deliberately, bent from the hips in a deep bow. Clearing his throat, he straightened, looked the Elf in the eye, and managed a clear, "Thank you. That song has always been my favorite."

Smiling, Celtos dipped his head. "I know. And thank you for joining in. The last verse lacks when it's just me."

"Hardly," Damus muttered, but was forced to clear his throat again when the word caught. Celtos, his blush receding, gave the mage's shoulder a kind squeeze and sat down on the arm of the sofa. Joey, still staring in shock, pulled his feet up enough that Damus could sit down next to him.

"Celtos," Yuugi spoke up finally, the first to find his voice, "that was incredible! I never knew you could sing!"

"All Elves can sing, Master. It is one of the gifts of our people," Celtos answered, waving it off.

"A gift that he received doubly," Amystria noted, even her soft voice carrying in the quiet room, "for a finer voice has not been heard among the Elves for generations."

"Amystria exaggerates," Celtos argued, his blush reasserting itself. "I'm not really that - "

Damus took the fastest and most effective route to shutting him up. When they separated a full two minutes later, both rather out of breath, Joey took the opportunity to ask what the song meant.

"Meant? Well, it's an old Elvish ballad – very old, actually, several millennia. It tells the story of the two great Kings who ended the Last War."

"Kings?" Yami asked, at the same time Yuugi echoed, "War?"

"The Last War fought between Elves and Spellcasters," Celtos, Damus, Mysti, and Cayenne elaborated in rather disjointed harmony.

"You were at war?" Yami repeated, incredulous.

"As I said, this was millennia ago. And the song doesn't translate all that well, but the essential tale is this; millennia ago, the Mages and the Elves were locked in an ancient blood war. The war had lasted for nine of the Spellcaster's generations, so long that neither side could remember why it started. The long war had robbed both sides of all the young, the strong, and the brave, and both sides were nearing extinction. At last, the two young Kings who led their people made the decision to end the war. Simultaneously, the High Mage and the Elven King sent their envoys to the other side. When they learned that their enemies had the same idea, they decided to meet." Celtos paused, chuckling a little, and Damus took over.

"The song goes on to tell about how the two young leaders arranged their meeting through envoys and lieutenants, and how the soldiers reacted with a mix of fear and joy to the news the war would soon be over. When the two leaders finally met, it is said that lightening burst and split the sky, although it was blue and clear of clouds, just because of the meeting of their power. For, despite their youth, the two Kings were the most powerful warriors their races had ever seen." Damus stopped, bumped his head affectionately against Celtos' shoulder, and the Elf picked up where the mage had left off.

"When the two young Kings met, they became instantly entranced with one another. They became lovers that night, and the war was officially ended the next day. Since then, Elves and Mages have been allies… for the most part," Celtos added, mildly, but there was a sharpness behind his amber eyes as he glanced towards Cayenne, now standing with the rest of the group at the bottom of the staircase.

"Now I see why this song is your favorite, Damus," Yami smirked.

The mage mirrored his Master's expression. "Well, the circumstances of our meeting were somewhat different, but it ended much the same way," he answered, snickering. Celtos gave a very slight moan and dropped his upper body back, letting his head hang down behind the back of the couch.

"Well, it wasn't my fault! When the most beautiful creature in the world is skinny-dipping in front of you? Particularly when he has a voice like the one you've just heard?" Damus smiled, the reminiscent expression returning to his face as he laid a possessive hand on the Elf's knee. "It was his voice that first drew me too him, but his laughter that made me fall in love."

"It was the Ballad of the Moon Goddess, wasn't it?" Celtos asked, his voice slightly strained from the position of his head and neck.

Damus made a vague sound of agreement, then sighed faintly. "You know, I wish you'd grow your hair back."

Celtos, his head still upside-down behind the couch, snorted slightly. "Easy for you to say. You can tuck yours inside your armor when you fight, but mine's too thick for that. And leaving long hair out just makes it a target for tangles – _among other things._" This time, there was a fierce severity to his voice, and Cayenne flinched, growling under his breath.

"Elf," the blue-skinned mage gritted, and Celtos lifted his head to look at him, "you can just kiss this!" And, turning around, Cayenne tugged the towel off his waist and bent over.

Yuugi and Mirai both snapped their eyes shut. Yami looked, but only briefly. Lustire rolled his eyes and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. Amystria and Gaia both turned away, blushing purple and charcoal respectively, and fled up the stairs before things could get any worse. Joey snickered, Celtos sighed, and Damus, never one to pass up an opportunity, cocked his finger and thumb in the classic 'gun' pose used by children everywhere, bent his thumb, and –

"YOW!!!" Cayenne scrambled upright, one hand on his singed butt-cheek, the other holding the towel in front of himself in something vaguely resembling modesty. "Damus, you son of a bitch!!"

"What the heck did you jus' do ta him?" Joey demanded, barely getting the question out around his laughter. Nearly everyone else, even those that hadn't seen exactly what transpired, were laughing, at Cayenne's expression if nothing else.

"Spark shooting," Celtos explained, a wearily amused look on his face. "It's one of the first skills that mages learn, and its uses can be… diverse."

"Like zappin' your cousin in the butt?"

"Regretfully, that is probably the most frequent application."

"Wish I could so somethin' like that to Kaiba. Might get his attention," Joey mused as Cayenne vanished up the stairs, his towel firmly back in place, trailed by everyone else save Celtos, Damus, and Joey.

Damus' expression went from mischievous to thoughtful in the blink of an eye. "Joey, do you play chess?"

"Never had the time to learn. Why?"

"Because to get Kaiba's attention, you're going to need to beat him at his own game. And you may not be able to beat him in the upcoming Duel Tournament, but seduction is as much of a game as chess."

"And you're gonna teach me?"

Mocking an old-fashioned Hollywood gunslinger, Damus blew imaginary smoke away from the tip of his finger. "Bulls-eye."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**S**: Six… thousand… words… (DIES)

**Onyx**: (pokes)

**S**: (resuscitates) See? I told you Cayenne was nefarious! And yes, he's done this before. The song that Damus and Celtos were singing is from 'Fiddler on the Roof.' (Don't own that, either. But my mother played Yenta in her high school's production!) And no, that does not qualify as part of the **Reader Contest**. (See below)

Additionally, if anyone is confused as to ages (Yami's thoughts on Yuugi in particular), I am considering everyone over 18 for the duration of this fanfiction. My thoughts, it's the summer after school graduation. It's mentioned earlier that Kaiba is already taking college courses, and I'm considering this post-series. Yes, I know, Yami, Millenium Items, etc. It's AU. I started this back in the Duelist Kingdom arc, and followed my original plot despite developments on the show. I don't play nicely with canon… Or cannons. But that's beside the point.

On Celtos' singing: Those of you that have actually _read_ Lord of the Rings: remember how Legolas sings so often? Yeah. Same thing. Those of you that haven't read LotR? Well, you should!! It's a fantastic series of books, and it's super easy to find them now that the movies made the popularity surge. Check any local store with a book isle, or try Bookfinder (dot) com for cheap overstock books, new or used, of any description.

**READER CONTEST!!! **Anybody notice the movie quote earlier in this chapter? Well, if you did, congratulations! That reference is one of three; two movie quotes, one television reference (from a popular sci-fi series), that I have inserted randomly into this story. The first reader who can identify all three references, and their sources, gets to request a free one-shot!! Good luck and happy hunting!

OOOOOOOOO

Can't get enough DMxCG? Dive into my new one-shot, _Under the Moonlight._ Craving more S/J? If you don't mind a bit of sand in your shoes, stroll over to _These Games_, my Ancient Egypt fic! Done plugging now. Please review!!


	10. Resolutions

S: Eh heh… this was supposed to be the last chapter, wasn't it? Due to time constraints (I'm going on a short vacation for my birthday), I am posting this in two sections, 10 A and 10 B. And the epilogue, of course… So those of you who were worried about it ending too soon can stop fretting for the time being.

Onyx: And those of us who have to work on this can fret about our jobs being extended…

S: Shut up, Onyx. If it wasn't this, it would be something else.

DISCLAIMER: See chapter one.

DEDICATION: To **MagicianOfTheShadows**, for PM-ing with me over the past week with encouragement, and ideas, and **Kissed By A Prince**, for reviewing a second time just to nag me. (grins) Thank you both so much!

WARNINGS: The usual, yaoi, weird and perverse humor, this chapter has SPOILERS for the end of the Millennium World manga arc, and OOCness, I think. Also, it's a rushed type job, please excuse any errors that result.

**This is a line break. This is a line break. This is a line break.**

"_My Lord?"_

_Prince Seto, now ruling Pharaoh of Egypt, lifted his head slowly, one hand still clenching wildly around the chain of the Puzzle. Pharaoh Atemu's Puzzle… his Puzzle, now. Prince Seto, Pharaoh of Egypt. Somehow, the words sounded hollow. He had lost count of how many hours he had stood here, staring across the broken, dusty landscape._

"_My Lord?"_

_This time, he looked around. Bright, honey-amber eyes regarded him from beneath unruly bangs, the hair that rare, rare shade of polished gold. _

"_Ounosu… are you… well?"_

_The golden-haired man was liberally coated in dust, there was a bruise running down the side of his bare chest and blood on his cheek, but he was, at least, alive. _

"_I am fine, Lord Seto. And I am… sorry, for you. I heard what happened to Kissara." The pain in Ounosu's voice was obvious, and Seto flinched in surprise. True, he had bedded the other man many times, but he had never considered that it was anything beyond the physical for Ounosu… how blind he had been._

"_Ounosu…" A shaken whisper called the blond's attention. "Please…" A thin, shaking hand clenched around the chain of the Puzzle. "Please, don't leave me."_

"_Never, Ounosu swore, unhesitating. "I am yours, Lord Seto, forever."_

_And Seto, Devine Pharaoh of Egypt, once High Priest to the Gods, fell into his lover's arms and surrendered to his kiss._

**I am a scene break. Look at me, I am a scene break!**

Seto Kaiba sat up in bed with a cry, knocking the blankets away from his body as he drew in a shaking breath. Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his knees and fought to get his breathing under control.

"This is ridiculous… I don't believe it. I don't believe ANY OF IT!" he shouted, tangling his fingers in his hair in frustration. "None of it is real!"

Saggi the Clown, who had been assigned the bedroom next to Kaiba's, banged on the wall in protest. Seto thumped his fist against the wall once in response, irritated, and slowly settled back into his bed.

"I don't believe," he whispered, fiercely, closing his eyes and fighting not to see Ancient Egypt dancing through his dreams. "None of it is real…"

At the other end of town, Joey Wheeler lay silent, hands folded behind his head, eyes open and staring blankly at the ceiling. He blinked slowly once, twice, and a single tear made it's way down the side of his face. Into the blank darkness, he whispered a broken plea. "Seto… we promised… forever."

**Here is another scene break!**

"Remember, confidence is going to be key," Damus lectured the next afternoon, hands moving animatedly and a smile on his face. Celtos, sitting on the floor in front of the couch, leaned back slightly, his back resting comfortably against Damus' leg and an amused smile playing across his lips. Damus, leaning back against the arm of the sofa, had been chattering amiably at Joey for almost a half an hour, giving him tips on how to 'seduce' Seto Kaiba. Joey, although listening intently, was beginning to acquire the slightly glazed look that came with information overload.

The only other person in the room with them was Mirai, who was draped over Yuugi's beanbag chair, engrossed in the volume of Aesop's fables that she had borrowed from the Kaibas. She'd spent most of the afternoon there, save a short trip to the kitchen to hijack a jar of peanut butter, which now lay open on the floor beside her. At random intervals, she would scoop some of the peanut butter out with her fingers, pop the whole mess in her mouth, and suck casually as she read. The noise in itself was distracting; had she been anyone else's sister, the actions would have been fairly distracting, too, but nobody (save perhaps Joey's Flame Swordsman) was willing to cross Damus by having designs on his sister.

"People like Kaiba are attracted to power; that is why he pays so much attention to Master Yami. It is the aura of confidence and strength that calls to him, so it is imperative that you project the same emotions."

"Maybe you should be writing this down, Damus," Celtos chuckled softly, and Joey shook himself out of his daze.

"I'm not a moron, ya know!"

Celtos shrugged up at him, expression innocent. "It is a lot of information," he answered mildly. "And not all of it is easy to remember."

"'S not so much," Joey demurred. "Eye contact and body language to indicate confidence, clothing that I feel comfortable in, pay attention to details in his expression and body language, and try not to overdo it. That about cover it?"

Damus blinked, surprised. "Actually, yes. You've managed to condense everything I just told you into a single run-on sentence."

"Well, hey, I'm not as dumb as I sound."

"Of course not," Celtos muttered, "If you were, you'd sound smarter."

"Dunno how to break it to you, buddy, but that makes no sense at all."

Celtos chuckled softly, leaning back a bit to rest his head on Damus' knees. "What I'm saying is that you're deliberately dumbing yourself down. It may well be subconscious, I don't know, but you're trying to lower people's expectations of you. If you sound like an idiot, nobody is surprised if you do something foolish. It's a reasonable defense mechanism. The downside is, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, because you become so accustomed to projecting an idiotic image to the world that you start to believe in the image yourself, and therefore are more likely to behave in a manner befitting an idiot."

Joey stared at him for a very long moment, trying to process the entire wad of psychobabble. "Celtos, how'd you wind up with a Psychology degree in the Shadow Realm?!"

That drew a laugh from Celtos and Damus both. "Just practical experience and common sense," the Elf demurred, but he was still smiling.

"Yeh, well, common sense isn't," Joey pointed out, but any reply Celtos might have made was lost in an obscenely loud slurp from the other side of the room.

"Mirai, what in the name of Anubis are you doing?!"

"I've got peanut butter stuck under my fingernails," came the rather 'isn't it obvious?' reply, and Mirai went back to trying to fit half her tongue into the space between nail and finger. "Hmph," she grumbled a moment later, foiled. "Never mind, I'll just - "

Hopes for a sensible solution, such as 'go use a nail brush,' were rapidly dashed when she raised her opposite hand, majik sparking across her fingertips.

"Mirai, don't!" Damus shouted, already scrambling off the couch, but it was too late. There was an absurdly loud pop and an explosion of thick pink smoke that smelled heavily of strawberries. Damus let out a very heartfelt groan. "_Mirai_!"

Coughing, Celtos waved a hand at the smoke, but the stuff seemed to be quite happy inhabiting Yuugi's living room, and utterly refused to move, even when Celtos picked up a couch cushion and began fanning the air with it. In desperation, he finally summoned up a tiny spark of the majik he'd received from Damus, channeling it through the pillow in hopes of dispersing the smoke. Damus, still standing a few feet away, gave an odd twitch and looked back at him, but the smoke lingered.

"What," Yami demanded from the kitchen doorway, "is the meaning of this?!"

"Uh-oh, the mighty Pharaoh voice," Joey teased, safe behind the wall of pink smoke, fanning away with a couch cushion to no avail.

Yami ignored him (as diplomatically as possible, though), and carefully navigated his way through the pink fog to open the windows at the other side of the room. Once given an escape route, the smoke did begin to drift out, but very, very slowly, giving the impression of some gaseous form of cotton candy. Even with all the windows prized open, Joey, Yami, and Yuugi fanning with couch cushions, and Damus and Celtos attempting magically-assisted ventilation, the pink cloud stubbornly refused to fully disperse.

Through the haze, the occupants of the room could make out the vague silhouettes of furniture, other people, and Mirai, still at the center of the room, although there appeared to be something very wrong with the shape of her head…

"What's she done this time?" Cayenne called down from the upstairs landing. Far from the raging state he'd been in when he first arrived, the Chaos Mage now sounded almost amused. Clearly, the mood-altering effects of the Black Luster Soldier were in full swing.

"Until the smoke is gone, it's rather difficult to tell," Damus answered pointedly, glaring in the general direction of the landing. "Would you _mind_?"

There was no real reply, just a faint snicker and a quick gust of wind that sent the smoke hurtling outside the windows where it hung, looking for all the world like a very lost nebula.

With the smoke gone, the full effects of Mirai's backfired spell were revealed, and there was a moment of dead silence as everyone gaped in a mixture of horror and hilarity.

The silence was broken, of course, by Cayenne, who was forced to cling to the banister to keep himself upright as his body shook with the force of his laughter.

"Oh, little sister," Damus groaned, "what am I going to do with you?"

There was a renewed peal of laughter from Cayenne, followed, rather breathlessly, by a single, wheezed word; "Jelly?"

Standing in the center of the room, arms akimbo, one toe tapping impatiently, Mirai glared up at her cousin. Or at least, attempted to glare. Glaring, however, was made far more difficult by the fact that she had turned her head into a giant peanut, complete with shell.

Joey snorted. Yuugi giggled. Yami snickered. A moment later, Celtos began to laugh, and the ringing sound of it echoed through the house, contagious, bringing everyone else in the room to new heights of hilarity, until even Damus was bent double at the waist, clutching his stomach.

They had begun to calm down slightly when Gaia, come to investigate the source of the noise, took one look at the scene and said dryly, "Well, I always knew she was a little nutty," which only served to set everyone off again.

When the hilarity had finally boiled down – it took some time, as a single noise from one person was all it took to set the entire group off again – Cayenne ordered the girl upstairs, so that he could repair her rather spectacular SNAFU in relative peace.

As Mirai navigated the upstairs hallway, though, Joey couldn't resist one final parting shot; "Hey, Cayenne, try not to butter her up!"

An hour later, Joey still argued that it wasn't _his_ fault the Chaos Mage had fallen down the stairs laughing, and would someone please convince the monster to remove the puppy ears and tail that he'd seen fit to hex Joey with?

**Hey, here's another scene break!**

"…and so the penguin says, 'No, that's just ice cream.' "

A roar of laughter rose up, and Cayenne preened slightly, looking smug. Gaia nearly spilled his soda before he could set it out of danger on the table; Joey shook his head, tears of hilarity welling in his eyes.

"That's disgustin', Cayenne, really," the blond choked out, although it didn't seem to deter him much. Mirai's earlier nuttiness had inspired an impromptu comedy hour, and Cayenne, of course, put himself front and center with a series of crude, though amusing, jokes.

"I don't… oh. Seal. Penguin. Joey's right, that is disgusting," Yuugi muttered, curling a little closer to Yami. The pair was once again settled in Yuugi's favorite beanbag, close enough to the table to reach their drinks. Damus, Celtos, and Joey (still with his dog ears and tail) had taken possession of the sofa, Gaia, amazingly, was still in the loveseat with Mysti, and Cayenne, Lustire, and Mirai had resigned themselves to the floor.

"I still remember the day I achieved Master-Knight status. I was seventeen," Gaia began, "but I looked closer to fourteen, and of course, on the day of the Championship ceremony, I woke up late. When I finally got to the arena, the guard at the gate refused to let me through, and I even remember what he said to me; 'You have not the position to enter this ground, boy!' And of course, at that precise moment, my squire came racing up, wearing my colors, with the gold braid on his shoulder to signify belonging to a ranking Knight, crying out 'Master, Master! The ceremony cannot begin without your presence!' I thought the guard was going to be sick," Gaia added, snickering. "I took my tunic from my squire, looked the guard in the eye, and said 'Position is everything in life.' "

"Funny," Damus mused from the couch, "how position is only everything in life when you're on the bottom."

"And how would you know?" Celtos grumbled from beside him. "You're never _on_ the bottom!" A moment later, exactly what he had said sank in, and Celtos gave a faint squeak and hid his head behind a throw pillow. Several of the others laughed; Damus, however, looked at him with concern.

"You've never said anything. Do you want me to be on the bottom?"

"No," came the muffled response, then, "I mean, yes. Maybe. I don't know!" A single bright-amber eye and a crimson-blushing cheek appeared around the edge of the pillow. "Can we not discuss this in public?"

"What public?" Damus retorted, gesturing around. Amystria was politely pretending to meditate; Yuugi and Yami were too busy snuggling on the beanbag to pay much attention to anything, Joey (sitting right next to them) was watching only from the corner of his eye, and Cayenne, Mirai, and Lustire… were all staring straight at them. Bizarre, Damus decided, flicking his eyes towards Gaia. The Knight's face had acquired a slightly greenish hue, which, with his grey skin, gave him the odd appearance of a lichen-encrusted rock.

"Never mind them. Just give me a kiss and we'll talk about it later?" Damus baited. Getting the Elf to initiate a public display of affection was next to impossible, but with the right incentive…

Celtos sighed faintly, scooting the pillow off his face and rolling forward onto his knees, his heels bumping against Joey's thigh, so that he leaned over Damus, their lips meeting in just a feather-light touch –

It was as though a firecracker went off. The explosion of sensation, of _power, _swept over Damus, and he gasped into the kiss, recognizing the taste of the power – '_That's my majik!' – _and suddenly they were separated again, and Celtos was staring at him, bewildered and out of breath.

"[Te'sunai maasyoa naä?!" The Elf demanded. _What just happened?!_

Damus shook his head and shrugged slightly, wondering just how strongly Celtos had felt that explosion to be shocked back into his native Elvish tongue.

"Uh, guys, what just happened?" Joey echoed Celtos' question from the floor – when had he fallen off the couch? – and Damus shook his head slowly.

"Don't… know," Celtos answered, sounding as though he was struggling to find words in the Japanese he had been using so easily moments before.

"Celtos, when you kissed me, I felt… my majik," Damus said softly, and the Elf turned to stare at him.

"[Naä?" _What?_

"Celtos, kiss me again," Damus whispered, and the Elf complied, more forcefully this time, pressing his weight against the mage, and the power was so intense that Damus reached out, clinging to the first solid thing his hand encountered, and it wasn't until several shouts erupted near him that he came out of his daze long enough to realize Gaia was passed out on the floor, and he'd just set fire to the coffee table.

Stammering bewildered apologies, he automatically reached out with his majik to extinguish the dancing purple-blue flames, and was somehow less surprised than he should have been when they doused immediately.

"I have my majik again…" A moment's thought, and he extended his hand again, intending to repair the damage to the table, but received only a few sullen puffs of smoke in response. "Not very much of it, though," he added, feeling slightly disappointed through his lightheadedness. He could only look on in surprise when Celtos' broad hand reached out next to his own and the table began to repair itself. Within seconds, even the slightest scorch-mark had faded to nothing, and the table gleamed back at them both.

"I can control it now," Celtos murmured, shocked, and Damus wasn't even sure what language he was speaking anymore, there was too much to take in…

_Clap._

Yami's head whipped around. Cayenne, Lustire, and Mirai all promptly hid their hands behind their backs, smiling and pretending they hadn't just been high-fiving each other seconds before. Mirai looked away and started whistling; Cayenne, being Cayenne, went so far as to make a gleaming halo appear, hovering over his glossy obsidian hair.

Yami's eyes narrowed in sudden understanding.

**Hey! Here's another scene break.**

"Who's idea was it?"

Cayenne and Mirai exchanged looks. Lustire, teacup in hand, just propped his chin up on his palm and gazed at the cabinets on the opposite wall.

"Mine," Cayenne answered finally, sounding exasperated. "It was my idea, but Mirai had to be the one to pull it off. After all, nobody's going to believe me screwing up a spell. As for Miss Nuts-for-Brains, though…"

Mirai did have the grace to look (slightly) embarrassed.

Yami nodded slightly. About an hour had passed since Damus and Celtos' kiss, and the pair in question had retreated to their room to do some 'research' on the bizarre properties of the majik affecting them. Yuugi had taken it upon himself to remove Gaia from the house, the monster having suffered some sort of homophobia-induced meltdown after witnessing the pair being quite so… bold. Yuugi had gotten the duty of escorting Gaia and Amystria to the park, and Yami had seized the opportunity to round up the trio of conspirators and corral them in the kitchen.

After all, what better place to grill someone?

"It's a very old spell," Cayenne continued, "one that's been used for centuries for couples with a single mage partner. It's only effective if the relationship is unequal, and the mage is dominant. As you know, it siphons majik into the sub and increases it, causing the submissive partner to become more powerful."

Yami nodded, once; they knew that already. "And why can't Damus find a counterspell?"

"Ah," Cayenne grimaced, "you see, the full effects of this spell are known only to certain members of the family, you see, and Damus isn't one of them. As for the counterspell…"

"There isn't one."

Yami and Mirai both jumped. Lustire spoke so rarely that the deep bass of his voice proved quite startling.

"What do you mean, 'there isn't one'?" Yami demanded, his irritation rising.

"Just what he said; there is no counterspell. This is an ancient and binding majik," Cayenne answered sharply.

"It's called the Balancing Spell," Mirai interjected, her resilient cheer breaking through Yami's ire, "and even though there's no counterspell, it's easy to fix."

"And how's that?"

"Simple," Cayenne answered, his broad smirk flashing the tips of his fangs. "The screw-er becomes the screw-ee, and the screw-ee - "

"_Cayenne_!"

The Chaos Mage grinned at Lustire, quite unapologetic. "The majik won't all go back to Damus. It turns into a shared resource, the same way that you and Master Yuugi share a bond of life-energy and emotion. It brings the two partners closer than they have ever dreamed possible."

A light bulb went off, neatly balanced on the uppermost point of Yami's hair. "You and Lustire - "

Twin nods. "Almost three years ago, now," Cayenne answered proudly. A second later, he added, almost sheepishly, "Gramps decided I was becoming too much of an ass, so he slapped that spell on me and I lost every ounce of my majik until I let Lustire bugger me… And if I'd had one iota of it when I found out what he'd done, I'd have singed his beard off all the way up to his eyebrows!"

Yami rubbed his eyes, trying to ward off the headache he knew would be attacking him shortly. To think that Cayenne, who pretended to hate everything, and Mirai, who was – intentionally or otherwise – a walking disaster, had managed to execute that kind of plan without anybody noticing until now… it was mind-boggling to say the least.

"Anything else?"

This time, Mirai and Lustire both turned to look at Cayenne. The mage hesitated for a second, then shook his head, much too rapidly. It didn't take a genius to figure out he was hiding something, but Yami let it go. Right now, he didn't want any more brain-scrambling explanations; just a couple of aspirin… and maybe a cup of coffee.

**And here goes another scene break… Aren't they fun?**

A knock at the door woke Yami from his doze. The spirit was resting on the living room couch, given that his upstairs bedroom – being right next to the one Damus and Celtos were currently occupying – was a little too loud to be precisely restful at the moment.

"I'll get it, Yami," Joey volunteered, hopping off of the loveseat and remoting the television off. Yuugi still hadn't returned from the park with Gaia and Mysti, and the three co-conspirators had retreated upstairs to plot further schemes to disrupt Yami's mental stability. Or perhaps they were just meditating. Either way, he wasn't quite sure he wanted to find out.

Watching Joey disappear through the kitchen door, something tickled at the back of Yami's mind. Something about Joey not being seen in public…

"Oh, _damn,"_ Yami said, suddenly feeling quite wide awake, and vaulted off the sofa just as he heard the door open. "Joey, wait!"

He stopped at the kitchen door, grimacing as he realized who Joey had just opened the door to. _'Perfect. He's going to have a field day with this.' _

Seto Kaiba cast a long, speculative gaze up and down the boy in front of him, lingering most at the top of Joey's head and the profile of Joey's backside. "Very nice, pup," he said after a long moment. "Did you put those on just for me?"

"Put wha – aw, crap! _Cayenne_!!" Tail bristling, dog-ears pinned back, Joey turned (tail) and stomped out of the room, cursing only half under his breath.

Yami covered a yawn with his closed fist and wearily motioned Kaiba in.

"What did I miss?" Kaiba's voice was coolly disinterested, but there was a spark of something in his eyes that just might have been humor. Yami sighed faintly, relating the tale as directly as he could – being direct was difficult when Mirai was involved – and was quite sure that Kaiba was trying not to laugh at the end.

"I'll have to thank Cayenne," he remarked mildly, and Yami could have sworn he saw the corner's of his mouth twitch upwards.

"Of course," Yami answered, stifling another yawn and glaring at the coffeepot. Of all days for that Ra-accursed piece of technology to fail him… "Were you here for something in particular, Kaiba?"

The CEO paused a moment before raising his right arm from behind the flare of his coat and into Yami's line of sight. The Duel Disk strapped to his wrist glinted faintly with the movement.

"It's ready."

**This is the last line break for this half of the chapter… read the notes!**

S: Whew! I'm glad I decided to split this… Just over ten pages! I'm posting it in a rush because I'm leaving for Washington, D.C. tomorrow morning, special vacation trip for my BIRTHDAY!! Happy birthday to me! A fantastic present would be to come home to lots of nice reviews for this chapter… or piece of a chapter, whatever. Not-so-subtle hint, folks.

If you'd like to deliver birthday wishes to me in person, I plan to be at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History on the 16th, and I'm spending my birthday, the 17th, at the National Zoo.

I've got plenty more stories that I'm getting ready to go, and I'm almost done with the second half of this chapter, so you shouldn't have too much of a wait this time. Thanks for all your patience!

Note on the Elvish: I have absolutely no idea. It's not Tolkien's Elvish, in fact, it's not anything-Elvish, I just randomly pulled that out of my ear. So don't ask me to translate anything, 'kay? Love you all!!!


	11. Clarifications

**S**: Ugh… I know I said I would get this up quickly, but the past few months have absolutely sucked ass, if you'll forgive my language. My aunt passed away from uterine cancer, I was involved in a car crash that completely totaled my beloved GMC Jimmy, my mother underwent surgery, and like an idiot, I managed to sprain my ankle falling off my back steps after a night of freezing rain, and then came down with the flu, which kept me out of work and anything resembling coherency for four days. I beg, again, as usual, your forgiveness for my tardiness. At least this time I have valid excuses. (sighs)

**Onyx**: (silent for once)

**S**: (looks at her, expectant)

**Onyx**: (shrugs) You've suffered enough on your own, you don't need my help!

**S**: Right. Ahh… DISCLAIMER, see chapter one, WARNINGS include language, shonen ai and yaoi, and references/SPOILERS to the end of the Millenium World manga arc, as per usual.

**A/N**: I've given up on keeping this at ten chapters. The final total will now be thirteen – twelve main chapters and an epilogue. Not exactly what I'd initially planned on, but thirteen is one of my lucky numbers, so… ah, well. On with it!

**A/N 2**: If any of Yami's comments fail to make sense – once I have (finally) gotten this completed, I will be going back and editing it to fit into a post-canon line, instead of the fangirl–on–a–caffeine-bender line it started out as. Therefore, Yami did leave, but returned, all memories restored, in a separate body. I'll post that as a separate story, later.

**CHAPTER 11**

**CLARIFICATIONS**

Yami couldn't help but stare for a moment. The Duel Disks… ready. The monsters would be going home. Somehow, the blow came harder than he had expected, and he felt it like a punch in the gut. Mutely, he motioned the taller duelist in.

"Gaia and Mysti aren't here," he managed after a moment of blank incomprehension, startled as much by his own emotions as the functional Duel Disks.

"That's all right," Seto replied tersely, and for a moment Yami feared that he would say 'I can send them back without them being here.' However, Kaiba bent to remove his shoes, an astonishingly polite gesture to Yami's mind, and finished calmly "I need to speak to Damus for a moment anyway."

"He's upstairs with Celtos," Yami answered in confusion, "although they might be busy…"

Seto grunted an acknowledgement and stepped around Yami into the living room. "Taking them off?" Kaiba's voice drifted back a moment later. "He looked better with them, Cayenne."

There was a snicker from the mage and an outraged exclamation from Joey, and Yami peered around the doorframe to see Joey now de-tailed and sporting a fully human pair of ears. Kaiba neatly sidestepped the blond's badly aimed punch and strode calmly up the staircase, leaving Joey behind to seethe.

Yami sighed in weary amusement, waved to catch Joey's eye, and gestured towards the front door. Frowning, the blond nodded his understanding, then turned his frustration on Cayenne, who was laughing hard enough that he probably couldn't hear it anyway.

Shaking his head slightly, Yami grabbed his jacket and slipped out the door, heading for the park. He could have simply mind-called to his Light, asked him to bring the two monsters back, but he was in a mood to walk. Perhaps the chill air would help him to wake up… After all, he didn't want to be half-asleep when he said his goodbyes.

**(scene break)**

A short rap on the door brought both Damus and Celtos' heads up. They were sitting on the bead, both wearing pants (though nothing else), faces flushed and hair in disarray. Celtos, sitting behind Damus, was carefully working his powerful hands across Damus' slim shoulders, making sure that any tension that had survived their earlier activities was banished.

"Come in," Damus called, laughing and squirming slightly as Celtos' thumb caught a ticklish spot near his shoulder blade. Seto opened the door carefully, not quite sure what to expect.

"Ah, Dragon Master. How can we be of a- aah! Celtos! - assistance?" Damus asked, playfully batting the Elf's broad hands away from his shoulders. Celtos retaliated by running a finger down the side of Damus' sensitive neck, and Damus fell sideways onto the mattress trying to dodge the ticklish sensation.

"I came by to tell you," Kaiba raised his arm, as he had for Yami, "the Duel Disks are ready."

The humor vanished instantly from both monsters' faces. Sitting back up, Damus carefully gathered maneuvered himself to sit cross-legged against the headboard, pinning Kaiba with his icy gaze. "You've tested it already?"

Seto nodded, uneasily. "Yes. Saggi and that… horse… were returned over an hour ago."

Damus closed his eyes for a moment, raising one hand and resting his fingertips against his forehead. A gentle pulse of blue light was the only thing to betray the spell. After only a few seconds, he opened his eyes again, nodding slightly.

"They're fine," he said, answering the unasked question. "Or Zephyr is, at least. He arrived back in the Deck with no problems." As he spoke, Damus kept his eyes on Kaiba, observing the duelist's body language. The lines of his jaw and shoulders were tight, and the young man was carrying himself as though he expected something to explode at any moment.

"Were you expecting something to go wrong?" Celtos prompted softly, and Kaiba shook his head, frowning, his eyes never leaving Damus. Celtos surveyed them both for a moment, then rolled out of bed with catlike grace, keeping his back to the wall and snatching up his discarded shirt before his feet even touched the floor.

"I'll go get us some tea, shall I? You sit and talk to Damus." After a seconds thought, Celtos bent over the bed, carelessly exposing his scarred back to Kaiba, and brushed a light kiss across Damus' lips. Immediately, instinctively, the mage curled one hand into Celtos' golden hair, returning the kiss with a desperate hunger, feeling the rush and heat of the majik that flowed between them…

Pulling away from Damus, both of them flushed and out of breath, Celtos flashed a grin and a wink at his lover, slipped his shirt on, and had whisked away out the door of the bedroom before either of the others could react.

Damus took a moment to recover his faculties and his breath before fixing Kaiba with a piercing look. "What's wrong?"

Kaiba exhaled roughly, shook his head, and walked over to sit on the foot of the bed. "Does the name Kissara sound familiar?"

Damus blinked, startled, and regarded Seto with a scrutinizing gaze. "It does, actually. It was the name of the woman who bore the original spirit of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon in Ancient - "

Seto's furious curse cut him off. "I do NOT want to hear any more of this crap about Ancient Egypt! I am myself! ME! Seto Kaiba! Not High Priest Seto, not Lord Seto, not Seto Ice-Blooded, and the mutt's name is Joey, not Ounosu, and we're not - we don't - " White-faced and out of breath, Seto lapsed into silence, his entire body vibrating with tension. "It doesn't exist," he whispered, staring down at his clasped hands.

Damus weighed his options carefully for a moment, then carefully, carefully replied in the ancient tongue he had never lost mastery of. "A week ago, wouldn't you have said it was impossible for Duel Monsters to exist as real beings? Five years ago, wouldn't you have said that Master Yami didn't truly exist? Eight years ago, wouldn't you have said that the Millennium Items were nothing more than tacky jewelry?"

"The Millennium Items _were_ nothing more than tacky jewelry," Seto snapped back, and Damus chuckled softly to himself.

"And Master Yami?"

"There's no guarantee that he's not some long-lost relative of Yuugi's with an overblown family resemblance and a taste for incest," Seto countered, glowering at the mage.

"And me?"

"It's entirely possible that I was electrocuted while working on the Duel Disks, or fell and hit my head, and I'm lying in a coma in Domino General, hallucinating all this."

"And the fact that you've been speaking Ancient Egyptian since my question about the Millennium Items?"

"I've been _what_?!"

Patiently, Damus repeated himself, switching back to Japanese to enforce his point.

Kaiba's face went red, then white. "Oh, hell."

**(scene break)**

On his way into the kitchen, Celtos stopped beside the sofa that Cayenne and Joey were occupying, the latter still sulking, and the former pretending to read a Dueling magazine. Pretending, because he was trying to 'read' the American player stats, and hadn't the faintest grasp of the English written language.

Celtos folded his arms across his chest and stared silently down at the top of Cayenne's head until the mage began squirming.

"Anything _else_ you would like to confess to, Cayenne?" Celtos had tracked down Mirai in the guest bedroom and gotten a rather garbled, but at least somewhat intelligible, explanation from her on the way down.

"No?"

Sighing, Celtos smacked the mage on the head and went to put on water for tea.

"Cayenne…"

Half-sighing and half-growling, the mage glared at the back of Lustire's head. Lustire, sitting by the window, turned enough to regard his lover out of one dark eye and raised a single, eloquent brow.

"Oh, so I lied. It's not like you're going to hold out on me for it," Cayenne hissed at him.

"_Cayenne_ - " Celtos' exasperated voice rang from the kitchen, and Cayenne winced.

"Damn Elves and their damn ears. Worse than dogs…"

"_Cayenne_!!!"

"Oh, screw off!" the mage in question snapped back. "I don't have to answer to you, dog-boy!"

"Oy!" Joey poked the mage sharply in the back of the head. "First off, that's MY lousy nickname. Second, since you've been such an ass, I think y' owe us an explanation. What'd you do? I suppose it's your fault you guys are here in the first place or somethin'?"

There was an exceptionally long silence, which was punctuated by Cayenne's cheeks acquiring a faint navy hue.

Celtos stuck his head out of the kitchen doorway, steaming kettle in hand and exasperation written on every line of his face. "_Cayenne_…"

"You do know that's the third time in two minutes you've said Cayenne's name?" Joey remarked offhandedly, before turning towards the mage. "So, spill. How'd you do it?"

"Cayenne," Celtos growled, plunking the kettle back on the stove ("Four times," Joey noted), "if you're the one that brought us here in the first place, _why in the name of all the Spirits haven't you just sent us back?!"_

The navy hue intensified, and Joey suppressed the urge to laugh. He'd never seen the Chaos Mage so discomfited.

Celtos, however, was staring at the blue-skinned magician with murder in his amber eyes. When Cayenne still didn't respond, save to blush to an almost midnight blue, the murderous fury slowly dimmed to be replaced by a faint spark. A glance to and a nod from Lustire was all that was needed, and the spark burned higher and higher until Celtos exploded –

With laughter. "Finally," the Elf gasped out, "all of your grand schemes! Backfired!" Clutching his stomach with one hand, Celtos staggered around the sofa to collapse, still laughing hysterically, into the loveseat. "By all means, Cayenne," ("Five times,"), "please, explain."

"All right, all right!" the mage growled back, irritable expression back full-force. "It goes like this. When the Dragon-Master created the latest Duel Disks, he tried to infuse our individual personalities into the characters on the Dueling field. What he didn't realize is that in his attempt to make the characters 'real', he opened up a breach into our Realm, allowing him to access monsters that were very real indeed." Placing the palms of his hands together, fingers pointing upward, Cayenne exhaled slightly, then whipped his hands apart to reveal a white silk handkerchief.

"There's not a dagger under that, is there?" Joey asked warily.

"Of course not. Now, this breach - " in lieu of more magic, Cayenne lifted the handkerchief to his mouth and used one of his delicate fangs to rip a neat, straight hole in the fabric. "…is a little like this." Holding up the handkerchief, he frowned as he realized he lacked an adequate number of hands to finish his explanation correctly, and flicked one hand to make the handkerchief float in midair between his palms.

"If this handkerchief is the barrier between our realms, then the hole is the effects of Kaiba's technology. I was a bit bored when I found the hole, so I… put my proverbial majik foot in it," he explained, looking rather sheepish as he poked a finger through the rip to simulate the action. "And then, with the hole propped open, when the Dragon-Master played the cards for my cousins, half-sister and you," here he nodded to Celtos, "instead of just their personalities being accessed to affect the characters, they were actually pulled through the hole. Kuriboh and Zephyr wandered through on their own, and Lustire went through looking for me, because he knew I'd been involved with the hole, but incorrectly guessed which side of it I was on."

Joey shook his head in disbelief. "Cayenne, you… you're… IMPOSSIBLE!"

Cayenne and Celtos both rolled their eyes. Lustire just snickered.

"And Saggi?" Celtos wanted to know. "How did he get through?"

"Not a freakin' clue."

"Highly reassuring," Celtos answered dryly. "My abilities at summoning? Since I can safely assume those are your fault, too?"

"Well, yes, for the most part. Because you'd acquired the majik of my cousin, the Deck Leader, you were immediately bound to all the monsters in the Deck." Holding up his hands to either side of the handkerchief, Cayenne flicked his right index finger. Five slender golden threads shot from the tip of that finger, spinning through the hole in the handkerchief to attach themselves to the tips of his left fingers.

"When you began absorbing Damus' powers, it strengthened the ties binding you to the rest of the Deck. Your power became strong enough for you to pull other members of the Deck – like Gaia, Silvis, and me- through the hole by only speaking their names, as you discovered. It's a variant on the Summonings that were used to call us out of our slabs back in the old days."

By 'old days,' he meant Ancient Egypt. Celtos shook his head in disbelief. "Cayenne," ("Six times,") "you realize you've turned me into one of the Pharaoh's High Priests?!"

"Eh, not quite. You haven't got a tacky piece of jewelry."

"Wait a minute," Joey interrupted. "You've still got your proverbowhatsit foot in that hole, right?"

"Yes…"

"So why haven't you just sent yourself back?"

The navy hue made a triumphant return on Cayenne's cheeks. "Funny thing about pulling on something is that you both have to be opposite it, and have something to pull _on,_ to be effective."

Joey puzzled over that one for a moment before his eyes widened in astonished hilarity. "You… got yourself stuck here when Celtos summoned you?"

Cayenne didn't have a response for that other than to prove he looked quite fetching in navy.

"I can't pull myself back to our Realm without having something to grab onto," the mage grumbled after a moment. "And Celtos and Damus are here, not there, so I can't grab the connection-force and have those two idiots pull me back!"

"Call Damus an idiot again, and you'll wind up with a cup of scalding tea dumped in your lap," Celtos warned, but his voice was distracted. Cayenne flipped him off, but Celtos merely rolled his eyes.

"You're getting predictable, Cayenne," Celtos grumbled, pushing himself out of his seat and going to collect the tea he'd come down for in the first place.

"_Predictable_?!" Cayenne squawked in outrage, while soft clinks and clatters indicted Celtos was setting up the tea tray. "I am NOT predictable!"

" "Yes, you are!" " Celtos and Joey chorused, leaving the mage open-mouthed with indignant fury.

Snickering softly, Celtos lifted the neatly-assembled tea tray and headed for the staircase, his long, easy strides ensuring that not a drop of tea would be spilled. Smirking slightly, Cayenne waited until the Elf stepped onto the staircase. Then, in one lightening-fast movement, Cayenne lifted his hand, cocked his finger and thumb, and –

- promptly wound up with a face full of his own spark. Coughing, he wiped a bit of soot off his face. "What the _hell_?!"

Smirking, Celtos held up his right hand. The dagger there, which usually resided in his boot-holster, flashed slightly as he wiped the soot off it on the thigh of his pants.

"Like we said, Cayenne," the Elf smirked, bending to reholster the knife. "Predictable." And he continued up the stairs, down the hall, and back into the bedroom without further comment from anyone.

Only when he was safely behind the closed door did Cayenne speak. "I don't BELIEVE this! He's channeling majik through those damn knife-blades! My spark wouldn't have deflected otherwise!"

"Blame yourself," Lustire replied from the window, making Joey jump. "It was your idea."

"I know that," Cayenne snapped back, wiping the last of the soot off and absently healing the tiny singe-mark on his cheek. "And you've just used up your quota of words for the week, Luse."

The Soldier merely chuckled and turned back to the window.

**S: **For those of you begging for more YYxY scenes (Nikki!), those will be in the next chapter. Again, my repeated and sincere apologies for the obscene number of delays. Hope you enjoyed. And folks, reviews really do make me write faster! My love to everyone, hope you all had a great Christmas (or whatever your midwinter holiday is) and New Years, and I'll see you next chapter!


	12. Returning

S: Guhh…

**S**: Guhh…

**Onyx**: (raises an eyebrow) Not commenting.

**S**: Well, that's a first. I swear there's a time-space distortion wrapped around me. Every time I turn around, another freaking week has gone by! How am I supposed to get anything done?

**Onyx**: It's not like you do anyway…

**S**: (smacks)

**Onyx**: (ducks)

**S**: Roll story!!

Disclaimer see Ch. 1

Warnings: Uhh, angst, yaoi, SPOILERS, general weirdness, the usual.

**Line break line break line break line break**

Lives to Live

Chapter 12: Returning

The early-fall winds were unpleasantly cool against Yami's face as he stepped out the door of the Game Shop. Frowning, he hunched his shoulders inside his leather jacket and headed towards the park.

Even though he'd known Kaiba was working on a solution – hells, the CEO had stopped by only two days before to say he'd almost fixed the issue – somehow, he'd never expected it to work. Some small part of him – or perhaps some not-so-small part of him – had hoped the monsters would be able to stay.

A nasty little sliver of wind darted down the back of his collar, and the former Pharaoh hissed in aggravation, pulling the leather tighter around his throat and hurried his pace a little. Oh, if only Japan had Egypt's weather!

_Then again_, he thought, ducking across the street at a break in traffic, _how many days in Egypt did I wish for a cool breeze during the high summer?_

Everything was a trade-off, after all. At least now he had Yuugi to help keep him warm at night. Chuckling at the thought, he sent a tiny trickle of consciousness down the link he still shared with the boy, brushing against the surface of Yuugi's thoughts.

'_Mmmmm… oh, it's too cold for this, but it's so good…'_

Yami blinked in confusion and stopped short on the sidewalk, bewildered. What on Earth was his little one doing to have something like that running through his mind? Particularly with the amount of pleasure that accompanied that thought?

'_Delicious… I wish Yami were here to share with me…'_

It wasn't until a trio of short-legged, long-bodied dogs collided with his legs that Yami snapped out of his trance. Waving off the apologies of the out-of-breath woman trying to keep their leashes untangled while she and the dogs jogged off again, Yami stuffed his chilled hands in his pockets and picked up his pace a little bit more. If Yuugi was enjoying himself that much, Yami felt a distinct obligation to go join in.

**Scene break scene break scene break scene break**

Celtos pushed the door to the bedroom closed with his foot before turning a carefully patient gaze to Kaiba and Damus.

"Well?"

"Well what, Emrys?" Kaiba barked back, startling the Elf so much he nearly dropped the tea tray. Emrys had been his name in Ancient Egypt; even though the monsters' memories had returned when Master Yami's had, most had continued to use the names they had adopted in the meantime.

Kaiba, on the other hand, realized what he had said, swore in the ancient tongue, then cursed again, this time in Japanese and with twice the fervor.

"Issues?" Celtos asked mildly, setting the tray down on the dresser before Kaiba did something else to alarm him.

"Something like that," Damus replied in an undertone. "Love, you remember Kissara, don't you?"

Celtos' eyes darkened slightly. As a Captain in the Pharaoh's Guard, he had seen, but not by any stretch approved of, the actions the priests had taken to steal the monsters from the souls of their bearers. However, despite his protests, he'd been powerless to stop the practice. "Of course. The bearer of the Blue-Eyes."

The bedsprings squeaked sharply as Kaiba leapt off the bed and began pacing, muttering a litany of curses in a variety of languages. Finally, he spun to face Damus, who still sat calmly on the bed.

"Aren't you and the Blue-Eyes supposed to be mortal enemies?"

Damus looked slightly taken aback. "We were, at first. Being pitted against one another so soon after my death left something of a lasting mark on our relationship. After the spirit split, though, I discovered that Krathis was a wise and patient creature, and we eventually became friends."

"Krathis?"

"The Blue-Eyes White Dragon who was a part of Master Yuugi's deck when his grandfather still possessed it. While three of them rested with you, do not forget that we also held one-fourth of Kissara's spirit. However, where there should be four, there are now three and three only. The wisest and most powerful, Krathis, was the one destroyed. The others were weakened considerably as a result." As usual, Damus' tone was level and calm, without blame, censure, or anger, but Kaiba jerked back as though the mage had struck him.

"And you think I don't feel guilty about it? Not a day goes by that I don't regret what I did!"

"It was a regrettable action," Damus agreed calmly, and something in his expressionless face stole the heat from Kaiba's anger.

"They must hate me," the CEO muttered finally, slumping where he stood.

"No," Damus answered mildly. "Most monsters do not have the capability to hate their masters, any more than a whipped cur hates the man who beats it. If they saw you now, they would crawl to you on their bellies to lick your - " Damus was forced to summersault backwards over the bed to avoid Kaiba's fist.

"Don't you _dare_!" Kaiba hissed, white-faced and shaking. "Don't you dare talk about them like that! They are proud and noble creatures, and they will not abase themselves for anyone!"

"Actually," Celtos spoke up from behind Kaiba, "you're right." And when the duelist spun around to face him, Celtos used a blindingly fast series of movements to sweep Kaiba's feet out from under him, seat him neatly on the bed, and place a cup of tea in his hands.

Damus, meanwhile, popped up from behind the bed, eyes alight with merriment, not bothering to conceal the grin on his face.

Kaiba glanced disbelievingly between Celtos' faint smile and Damus' wide grin before leveling a glare at the mage. "You tricked me."

"Yes, I did." Swinging back across the mattress, Damus tucked his feet comfortably under him and accepted a cup of tea from Celtos. "You see," he began, turning back to face Kaiba, "ever since you destroyed Krathis' card, there have been doubts about your worthiness to be Master of the Blue-Eyes White Dragons."

"Doubts," Celtos added as he sat down between the two of them, cup of tea in his hand, "which you have just put to rest."

There was a long silence while Kaiba digested this. After a few minutes, however, he finally raised his tea to his lips, being sure to keep his head down so that neither of the monsters would see his faint smile.

**Scene break scene break scene break scene break**

The winding concrete paths of the park were slow to lead Yami to his destination, spurred on though he was by his light's bizarre thoughts. The only advantage the half-frozen former Pharaoh could find to scrambling his way over the meandering trails that must have run at least ten times the straight distance, was that he was at least beginning to thaw a little.

When he finally rounded the last corner hiding his Hikari from view, he stopped short in utter amazement.

'_Oh, so good…' _Yuugi blinked, raising his shocked gaze to meet his other half's crimson eyes. Unapologetically, he licked the traces of thick white liquid from around his mouth, then smiled and beckoned to his dark over.

'_Yami, I wasn't expecting to see you here,' _Yuugi's mental voice murmured in his head, more private than any whisper. _'Care to join us?'_

'_That's not the only thing I'd care to do, little light,' _Yami answered heatedly, striding towards the boy. _'Do you have any idea what your thoughts sounded like?'_

By Yuugi's sudden and ferocious blush, evidently the boy hadn't realized exactly how those thoughts sounded. _'Yami, you're so perverse! All I was doing was eating ice cream!!'_

Sprawled on the park bench beside the diminutive duelist, Gaia was looking very much recovered as he bit a large chunk of marshmallow out of his Rocky Road. Amystria, seated more gracefully at the end of the bench, took another dainty lick of her peach ice cream and gave Yami a deferential bow of her head. Yuugi, still fighting down a blush that would have done a stoplight proud, took an overlarge bite of his favorite white-chocolate cherry to cool his flushing face.

Shaking his head in disbelief, Yami turned sideways and went to the ice-cream stand that remained set up in the park until the first snow fell. The attendant, a novice duelist who took occasional lessons at the shop, grinned over the counter at him and scooped out Yami's guilty treat, double-dark chocolate with hot fudge and a cherry.

He passed over the yen without comment; he always got the same thing, and knew the price by heart, but he stuffed a few extra bills in the tip jar when she passed him a bag of Gummi Duel Monsters for free.

"So not that I'm complaining," Yuugi grinned as Yami joined them at the bench, Gaia scooting over to make room, "but what are you doing out here? I thought you'd gone for a nap, since the coffee machine is broken."

"That was my intention," Yami paused long enough to trade cones with his light, a tradition they'd started the first time they'd stopped for ice creams in the park, and took a bite of Yuugi's decadently sweet treat. "But Kaiba stopped by."

"Uh-oh," Yuugi muttered, licking a smear of hot fudge off his upper lip. "Had Cayenne taken the tail - ?"

"No," Yami answered, passing Yuugi's cone back and refusing to laugh too hard at the recollection. "Seto was… quite amused. But that's not it," he added sharply, as Gaia dissolved into laughter and even Mysti and Yuugi started to giggle softly.

"What is it, then? Look out, your fudge is dripping."

Yami caught the wayward bit of chocolate with his tongue and swallowed before speaking. "The Duel Disks are ready."

The laughter stopped instantly.

"We can go back?" Amystria's soft, musical voice was the first thing to break the silence.

"Yes," Yami answered softly, staring blankly at his ice cream as it began to melt. "Kaiba sent Zephyr and Saggi back already. I came to get you while Kaiba spoke to Damus."

"To Damus?" Gaia echoed in confusion. "What does he want with him?"

"I didn't ask," Yami replied, shaking his head slightly before doing damage-control on his delightfully bittersweet treat. How it could be melting in this weather was beyond him, but then, that was simply what ice cream _did, _wasn't it?

"And given that the coffee machine is broken, you weren't awake enough to think of asking, I bet," Yuugi added impishly.

His mouth occupied, Yami could only shoot the boy a dirty look and a halfhearted mental grumble.

Yuugi just grinned and popped the last of his own cone into his mouth, munching it down and licking the last smears of white off his lips before leaning forward to snag the packet of Gummi Duel Monsters out of Yami's lap.

Gaia noisily crunched down the last of his cone, then sheepishly accepted the napkin that Amystria offered him to wipe the melted chocolate off his own lips and fingers.

"Was Joey really upset about Kaiba seeing him with the ears and tail?" Yuugi asked after a moment's quiet, studying the blue raspberry Winged Dragon before popping it into his mouth.

Yami had to lick a bit more ice cream off his fingers before responding. "Not as angry as I'd expected. Cayenne may have a bit of an earache, though."

"As much as I hate to say it, he does kind of deserve it," Yuugi pointed out, offering the bag of gummis to the two monsters. Gaia fished one out, examining for a moment.

"Disturbing," the Knight finally declared in an undertone, handing the gummi (which happened to be a grape Gaia the Fierce Knight) on to Amystria. She regarded it carefully before popping it carefully into her mouth and sucking on it.

Yami and Yuugi, who had been watching the pair surreptitiously, both tried not to choke. Gaia ignored them both, (which was probably for the best, neither of them exactly wanted to explain what they were laughing at) fished out a black cherry Magician of Black Chaos, and bit down on it with rather more enthusiasm than entirely necessary.

Yami carefully sipped the melted ice cream from the bottom of his cone before slowly chewing the now-slightly-soggy bit of waffle cone. Double-dark chocolate was not something you rushed, no matter what the circumstance – or the temperature! – was.

Yuugi, however, did not have quite the same respect for the concept of savoring ones' food. Catching Yami's wrist with one quick hand, he brought the hard, tan fingers up to his mouth and quickly relieved them of their bittersweet coating.

Yami bit his tongue to keep from groaning; things far more pleasant than the cold had caused the shivers that were now running up and down his spine. By the time Yuugi's nimble tongue had cleaned every trace of ice cream from Yami's hand, the former Pharaoh was definitely feeling more awake.

Parts of him were feeling very awake indeed, and he was uncomfortably reminded of precisely how tight his leather pants were.

Gaia's low, near-horrified moan drew him sharply back to reality. One did not bend one's partner over a park bench simply because he washed your hand for you.

Not at this time of year, anyway. Yuugi might catch a chill.

Guiltily, Yami glanced from Gaia, who looked rather nauseous, to Yuugi, who (attempted to) look innocent, to the ice-cream vendor, who looked about ready to crack a rib with suppressed laughter.

"We should…" Yami frowned slightly as he tried to remember exactly what he had come out her for, other than to be very willingly molested by his light.

"- be getting back, I know," Yuugi finished smoothly, sliding off the bench in a movement absolutely to sensual to be unintentional.

Yami shot a half-grateful, half-chagrined look at the boy; grateful for completing the thought, chagrined for making him lose it in the first place – and stood up as well.

"I'll bet you guys can't wait," Yuugi added to the two monsters as they rose.

"It will be wonderful to be home again," Mysti agreed softly, wiping the last bit of ice-cream from her fingers. She looked oddly leggy in Teá's close-fitting jeans, and despite the knee-length braid swaying down the back of her yellow windbreaker, very… normal. When Gaia's shoulder accidentally bumped hers, their fingers entwined so naturally that Yami barely noticed. Watching the pair move side-by-side down the path, he couldn't help but think they looked like any other young couple in the first days of true love.

Yami hissed under his breath as he felt the cold tension in his chest again, and abruptly wondered if he was doing the right thing by sending them back. The monsters could remain here, live as humans…

_Under glamour, away from their friends, their homes, the lives they'd always known?_ his logic demanded viciously. _They've already expressed their happiness at being able to return. Don't make it harder for them. _

But the doubt still clouded his mind. The gentle brush of Yuugi's thoughts against his own came as an incredible relief.

'_Yami? Why so sad?'_ Yuugi asked, his warm fingers – _sticky_ warm fingers, Yami noted, although he did not particularly mind – wrapping around Yami's own.

'_Just… sorry to see them go,' _Yami replied thoughtfully_. 'Aren't you?'_

'_Of course I am! It's been so wonderful having them, but it's just selfish on our parts, wanting to keep them here if they need or want to be somewhere else.' _

The weight and wisdom of those words didn't pass Yami's notice. _'This is what you went through when I left for the Afterlife, isn't it?'_

A quick nod. _'Yes, but that's another part of the reason I'm not sad. After all, you came back. That means they probably can, too!'_

Warmth of the heart, Yami realized, could dispel even the chill of a gloomy day. Wrapping an arm around his hikari's shoulders, he and the boy hurried down the path to catch up with Gaia and Amystria. As he ran, Yami didn't try to keep the smile from his face.

_After all, _he reasoned_, goodbyes are sad – but we're only saying 'until next time.'_

**Scene break scene break scene break scene break**

When the four of them returned to the game shop, the almost-oppressive silence sent another stab of fear through Yami's heart. Surely, Kaiba wouldn't have sent the other monsters back already?

Dropping his arm from Yuugi's shoulder, Yami darted through the kitchen and stopped short in the doorway to the living room.

All seven of the remaining monsters were standing in the living room, dressed in their full regalia of armor and weapons. To the far right, Cayenne stood with his arms crossed, looking like an eerie specter, his wild hair flowing and drifting around him despite the still air. At his left, Lustire stood, statue-still, both hands braced against the pommel of his sword, his face and thoughts hidden behind the visor of his helmet. Mirai, just beyond him, was sitting on the arm of the couch, swinging her heavy-booted feet and tapping her wand against her shoulder, bathing her arm in showers of pink-and-gold sparks.

On the other side of the couch, Celtos was the only monster in the room who seemed utterly at ease. He was lounging more than standing, leaning against the back of the sofa with one thigh propped on the overstuffed arm, the same foot braced against the floor. His other knee was cocked, and the flat of his foot rested casually against the edge of the sofa. The fact that Silvis the wolf was reclining nearly across his feet only enhanced his deadly, warrior-of-old calm; an appearance that was decidedly ruined by the fact that Kuri was sitting on his head, little green claws clenched around the steel horns of Celtos' helmet.

To Celtos' left, Damus stood, fully armored save for his helmet, his face expressionless in a manner Yami knew only too well. The mage's cerulean eyes gave away nothing, but the former Pharaoh knew full well how much pain was hiding behind them.

It was the same sadness that echoed in his own heart.

In the midst of all this, Joey lounged casually on the sofa, his shoulder almost against Celtos' back. The two seat-cushions beside him were occupied with folded bundles of cloth and metal in shades of brilliant blue, soft green, and glowing silver; Gaia and Amystria's costumes.

Standing behind the sofa, his face pale but expressionless, Seto Kaiba rested the weight of the Duel Disk against the sofa's back and met Yami's gaze.

"We've been waiting for you."

**Scene break scene break scene break scene break**

Sending the monsters home was not, as Yami had feared, an instantaneous procedure. In fact, it required over an hour of calibration and cursing, and while he wasn't sure the latter was entirely necessary, he wasn't going to argue.

Kaiba, Cayenne, and Celtos had spent the last forty-five minutes in the corner of the living room, the two monsters muttering occasional directions while Kaiba prodded the innards of his Duel Disk with a pair of minute pliers. The swirling, silver-white vortex of mist sitting a few feet away against the wall of the living room had long ago ceased to draw attention, particularly after Cayenne had stuck his head inside for the sixth time.

"Better now?"

"Another twenty degrees to the right," Cayenne answered, yanking his head out of the flowing eddies of mist. "You're going to dump us in the lake."

"I have very fond memories of that lake," Damus muttered from the couch, trying to unknot his fingers from the cats-cradle he'd made of his hair. Braiding it was evidently a nervous habit; the mage's once-perfect purple locks were rapidly turning into purple dreadlocks.

"You might," Gaia grumbled from the floor in front of the loveseat. "But some of us can't swim."

"You can't?" Damus echoed in surprise, then looked taken aback when Lustire raised his hand. "You, either?"

The warrior shook his head and pointed at Cayenne. Or rather, at Cayenne's backside, since the mage was shoulders-deep in the vortex once again.

"Cayenne can't swim?"

Celtos looked up sharply, a light dawning in his amber eyes. "He can't?"

"No," Cayenne answered shortly, withdrawing his head from the porthole again and turning to face them. "Is this really pertinent?"

"Of course it's pertinent," Celtos answered, his eyes gleaming. "It's a safety issue, you know. Ocean duels. Umi Field cards. All monsters should know how to swim." He took a half-step forward, and Cayenne edged backwards slightly. "I can give you swimming lessons, you know. I'm an expert in the water."

"You certainly are," Damus called from across the room, the tone of his voice making it abundantly clear he wasn't talking about swimming.

Celtos ignored him and took another step towards Cayenne. "You see, you've saved Master Yami and Master Yuugi in major duels. Therefore, we all owe you a debt of gratitude," Celtos continued, his voice lowering to a slightly threatening pitch. "I insist on repaying you." He took another step forward.

Cayenne took another step backwards and fell backwards through the porthole with a yelp and a splash that sent water though dimensions and onto Yuugi's carpet.

"Ah." Celtos stuck his head through the porthole, then pulled back to address Kaiba. "Another fifteen degrees, please, and about ten feet lower. Excuse me." And he backed up a half a step and took a picture-perfect dive through the mist.

"Gone to pull Cayenne to shore," Damus informed the room at large, as Gaia and Mysti went over to help Kaiba finish fine-tuning the location of the porthole. "Oh, and before I forget, Masters…"

Yami and Yuugi turned as one to face him, identical questioning expressions on their faces. Damus smiled, his eyes relaxed for the first time since they had returned home, and reached into his helmet. "A small token of our gratitude for showing us this world and your kindness," he said softly, withdrawing a single dueling card. "This should be useful in the tournament."

Yami extended his hand almost automatically, opening his mouth to thank his old friend, beg him to stay, to say _something_, but Kaiba's voice broke through the air before he could.

"We're ready here."

Damus dropped to his right knee before Yami, taking the duelist's slim, dark hand in both of his own and pressing it to his forehead. "Fare thee well, Devine Pharaoh," he whispered, and turned before Yami could respond to press Yuugi's hand to his forehead as well. His murmured "Fare thee well, Master," was almost lost in the sounds of the other monsters' movements.

Silvis and Kuri bolted through the porthole as soon as Kaiba stepped out of the way, barking and cooing with obvious excitement. Directly behind them, Amystria dropped a deep curtsey to her masters, sweeping her flowing green gown around her. Gaia, standing beside her, bowed deeply to them both, and to Joey, before pulling his helmet on and taking Mysti's hand.

Lustire paused as the pair vanished through the mist, turning back to face the room. "Thank you," he said simply, and the echoes of his deep voice lasted after he had whisked out of sight.

Mirai, bouncing on the balls of her feet, giggled her thanks and goodbyes to her Masters and Kaiba, accepted a hug from Joey and a gentle admonishment to listen to her brother, begged Yuugi to please, please thank Mai for the wonderful clothes next time she was around, then dropped her staff and promptly tripped over it and out of sight.

Damus, waiting patiently at the end of the couch, sighed softly and pressed his thumb and forefinger against his eyelids. "My life," he grumbled, though without any apparent remorse.

Kaiba, sitting crosslegged on the floor near the porthole, glanced up to meet the mage's gaze as he went by. "And welcome back to it."

Damus' smile carried the weight of a thousand words, and Kaiba answered it with a faint quirk of his own lips.

"Thanks, Mage."

"And thank you, Priest," Damus countered, bending to pick up his sister's staff. Rising, he stepped forward, but Yami's voice jerked him around halfway through the porthole.

"Mahado!"

"Master?" The mist swirled around Damus as he turned, muting his purples and indigos into bare shades of grey.

Yami's voice refused to come, so Yuugi asked the question lodged in his darker half's throat. "Will we see you again?"

Damus' chuckle touched them, a soothing balm in the form of sound. "Masters," he said softly as he stepped backwards through the mist, "I am always with you. You will see me again every time you duel."

And with a last swirl of the mists, both he and the porthole were gone.

"Well," Joey's voice broke the silence at last, "now what?"

TO BE CONTINUED IN EPILOGUE

PLEASE, **PLEASE**, _**PLEASE**_ REVIEW!! I have low self – esteem and I need reassurance to keep writing!! (grins)


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